The works of Thomas Vaughan : Eugenius Philalethes

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THE WORKS OF
THOMAS VAUGHAN

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THE WORKS OF

THOMAS VAUGHAN:

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EUGENIUS PHILALETHES

EDITED, ANNOTATED AND INTRODUCED

BY

ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE

“ I call God to witness that I write not this to ama«e
men ; but I write that which I know to be certainly
true.” — Aula Lucis.

PREPARED FOR THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE OF THE
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN ENGLAND AND WALES
AND ISSUED BY THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING
HOUSE, i UPPER WOBURN PLACE, LONDON, W.C. i
In the Year of thf. Lord MCMXIX

■*

FOREWORD

Th is is the first volume of a series of Transactions to be
issued by the Library Committee of the Theosophical
Society of England and Wales. The choice has fallen upon
Thomas Vaughan for two reasons : in the first place, because
of his unique position in the chain of the Hermetic tradi¬
tion during the seventeenth century ; and, secondly, because
it has been possible to secure the services of Mr A. E.
Waite, who is recognised by all students of the hidden
truth as one who is particularly fitted, not only by
temperament and predilection, but also by special training
and ripe scholarship, for the task of editing one of the
profoundest and most difficult of all visionaries who have
seen “ the new East beyond the stars.”

The mantle of Robert Fludd may be said to have fallen
upon the shoulders of Vaughan, who in his time and
generation continued the apostolate of the Secret Tradi¬
tion, as this is represented by the secret and more spiritual
side of alchemical philosophy. The two writers drew from
the same sources : from the school of the Kabalah in all
its extensions and reflections, from the Hermetic Neo-
Platonists, and from’ those Latin-writing scholars of Europe
who, subsequent to the Renaissance, represented and not
infrequently typified the struggle for liberation from the
yoke and aridity of scholastic methods. Fludd was a
physician, and when not dealing with cosmical philosophy
he paid attention to the Hermetic foundation upon which
the true art of medicine is built. Vaughan, on the other
hand, was an exponent of alchemy ; and though first and
foremost a mystical philosopher and a visionary, was none

v

The IV orks of Thomas V aughan

the less a practical alchemist upon the material side — it
was, in fact, from inhaling the fumes of mercury during
a chemical experiment that he met his death.

Both Fludd and Vaughan were influenced by the move-
ment known as Rosicrucian, which came into prominence
in the early part of the seventeenth century. But Vaughan
was an unattached interpreter, while there is ground for
believing that Fludd may have been connected more or
less directly with the so-called “Fratres R. C.” At any
rate he was a personal friend of Michael Maier, who
cannot be dissociated from the movement.

There is a living interest in Vaughan on the personal
side ; he belongs to the history of English literature,
more especially as a prose writer, though also by the
occasional felicity of his metrical exercises. Above all —
and this concerns the present venture more closely than
any lighter consideration, — he has a position of his own as
an interpreter of the Secret Tradition. His works, which
are valued possessions to those with sufficient knowledge
to appreciate their occult significance, are here made avail¬
able for the first time in a collected edition.

The Library Committee.

*

vi

BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE

The Vaughan family is of old repute in history — in that
of England as well as Wales. It is said that an early
representative, Sir David Vaughan, fell at the Battle of
Agincourt. The branch with which I am concerned had
Tretower Castle — by the Usk — in Brecknockshire as
its ancestral seat. This is now in ruins and was perhaps
falling into decay at the end of the sixteenth century,
for it was left by the master of the place about, that
period in favour of a residence at Newton, near Seethrog,
in the parish of LlansaintfFraid, some five miles away in
the same shire. This is Newton-St-Bridget, also on
the banks of the Usk. In the next generation Henry
or Thomas Vaughan1 was of Tretower and Llansaint-
firaid. At the latter place, and in what has been called
the farmhouse at Newton,2 there were born to him — of
a wife about whom there is no record — the twin boys
Thomas and Henry Vaughan. The traditional or accepted
date, as I must term it, is between 1621 and 1622, but
the tradition may be regarded as sound, since it rests on
the authority of Wood,3 who — almost unquestionably —
had for his informant the younger of the two brothers.4

1 The Rev. A. B. Grosart, who first edited the complete writings of
Henry Vaughan in the Fuller Worthies Library, four beautiful
volumes^-exceedingly valuable for the lives of both brothers — says that
the father was Henry and that he was a magistrate in 1620. The
Register of Oxford University describes him as “Thomas of Llansan-
fraide, co. Brecon,//^.”

2 See Theophilus Jones : History of the County of Brecknock,
vol. ii, part 2, p. 540. He speaks of a farmhouse at Newton, once
“ occupied by two brothers of the name of Vaughan, of very eccentric
character.”

3 Athene Oxonienses, edited by Philip Bliss, vol. iii, p. 722.

4 Ibid., sub nomine Olor Iscanus.'

• •

Vll

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

There are, however, no registers of births for that period-
in the district, nor for almost a century later. We shall
find further on that importance attaches to the birth-date
of Thomas Vaughan, and it is necessary therefore to note
at this point that there is a minimum element of un¬
certainty hereon.1

Thomas and Henry Vaughan became famous respec¬
tively in the annals of two departments of literature, the
first as a mystic and alchemist whose little books have
long been sought eagerly and prized highly by students,
the second as a beautiful, though very unequal, religious
poet. With vocations sufficiently distinct, they yet be¬
longed to one another in the spirit as well as in the blood,
for after his own manner Thomas was also a poet, or at
least a maker of pleasant verse, while Henry was drawn
into occult paths as a translator2 and indeed otherwise,
as a record of his repentance testifies.3 Between and
above both there stands the saintly figure of George
Herbert, their contemporary ‘ and kinsman by marriage,
albeit in remote degree.4 The paths of the secret sciences
were beyond his ken entirely, and this is one distinction
in the triad. But there is another of more living im¬
portance. Herbert was an artist in verse, <c beautiful
exceedingly.” in workmanship, and if he did not attain
the heights which were reached in rare moments by

1 There is extant a letter from Henry Vaughan to John Aubrey, dated

June 15, 1673. ^ is said that he and his brother were born in 1621, but

as a second letter mentions that Thomas Vaughan died in 1666 in his
forty-seventh year, there is a mistake on one side or the other, and the
birth-date is still open to question.

2 See Appendix IX of the present volume, p. 489.

3 See The Importunate Fortune , written to Dr Powell of Llanheff. The
poet commits his body to earth, his “growing faculties ... to the humid
moon,’ his cunning arts to Mercury, his “fond affections” to Venus, his
pride if there was aught in me ” — to the royalty of Sol, his rashness
and presumption to Mars, the little he has had of avarice to Jupiter ;

And my false Magic, which I did believe,

And mystic lies, to Saturn I do give.”

Grosart : Works of Henry Vaughan, vol. i, p. xxiv. Another kinsman
was the antiquary, John Aubrey.

• • •

VI 11

Biographical

Henry Vaughan, he knew still less of his descents. I
mention these matters to indicate the kind of race and
royalty to which the triad belongs in literature. Herbert
is still the known poet whose popularity is witnessed by
innumerable editions. Henry Vaughan, designated the
Silurist,1 is known indeed — but after another .manner
and one much more restricted. His works have been
collected twice and the selections are few. As regards
Thomas Vaughan, with a single exception in respect of
the tract entitled Euphrates, he has been edited in
modern times by myself only, and the volume to which
the present words are prefixed represents the only attempt
to produce his writings in collected form.

In the vicinity of Newton and Tretower is the little
town of Llangattock, still v/ithin the voices of the Usk,
and there at the period dwelt the Rev. Matthew Herbert,
a kinsman perhaps also, to whom Thomas 2 and Henry
wrote Latin and English verses, and to whom the former
may have dedicated Aula Lucis,3 addressing him as
Seleucus Abantiades — or such at least is my suspicion.
The records 4 on which I depend tell me that the boys
were placed in his charge at the age of eleven years for
schooling, and so profited therein that in 1638 they
proceeded — apparently together — to Jesus College, Ox¬
ford,5 where Thomas in due course took “ one Degree
in Arts.” 6 This is stated by Wood and seems final on

1 Thomas Vaughan is as much entitled to be termed Silurist as his
brother. In a sense, it was a family designation, belonging to that branch
which had its home in South-East Wales, where dwelt once the war¬
like Silures.

2 See Appendix II, p. 475.

3 The tract entitled The Man-Mouse in reply to Henry More was
also dedicated to Matthew Herbert by his “ pupil and servant,” Eugenius
Philalethes.

4 In addition to the researches of Grosart there are those of E. K.
Chambers in his Works of Henry Vaughan, 2 vols., Muses’ Library,
1906. It must not be said that the discoveries made by either editor are
considerable in respect of Thomas Vaughan, the materials being wanting.

6 The University Register says that “ Thos. Vaughan . . . matriculated
from Jesus College on 14 Dec., 1638, aged 16.”

6 Athene Oxonienses.

IX

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

the subject, but it has been said that he became a Fellow
of his College 1 »or alternatively a Master of Arts.2 His
age at the time of matriculation is also described variously
as eighteen, seventeen and sixteen. The last is on the
authority of the University Registers, and from this it
would follow that he was born in 1622. The date of
his baccalaureat is February 18, 1640, and thereafter I
find no particulars concerning him until he was ordained
by Dr Mainwaring, Bishop of St Davids, and was pre¬
sented to the living of Llansaintfiraid by his kinsman
Sir George Vaughan of Follerstone in Wiltshire. Again
the date is uncertain, that of 1640, which is usually given,
seeming too early.3 In any case he became in this
manner the rector of his native parish and was at least
in nominal possession till 1649, when he was ejected
by a Parliamentary Commission, under an Act for the
Propagation of the Gospel.4 The more immediate
reason was unquestionably that, in common with his
brother, he was an ardent Royalist. He had also fought
for the King, notwithstanding the fact of his ministry —
where or under what circumstances we are never likely
to know. But the White King perished in the Royal
- Cause on January 30, 1649, and Wood says that the
loyal but dispossessed subject sought the repose of Oxford
to pursue his studies.5 He alternated between there

1 “Was made Fellow of the said House” are the words of Wood,
referring to Jesus College, but it is a mistake according to Grosart,
who gives no reason. The fact of this Fellowship is affirmed by ,
Foster, Alumni Oxonienses, following Walker’s Sufferings of
the Clergy.

2 Grosart says that he “ passed M. A.,” but mentions no authority.
There is, however, an expression of opinion in the letter from Henry
Vaughan to John Aubrey, already quoted : “ (I think) he could be no
less than Master of Arts.”

3 See Grosart, op. cit ., vol. ii, p. 301.

4 Theophilus Jones says: “ He was ousted by the propagators of the
gospel in Wales, for drunkenness, swearing, incontinency and carrying

arms for the King.’ — Loc. cit. The last charge implied the others
presumably.

The unsettledness of the time hindering him a quiet possession of
the place meaning his cure of souls — “ he left it, and retired to Oxon,

X

Biographical Preface

and London, and — the suggested repose notwithstanding
— was busy about many things. -Chief among these
were the publication of his first five tracts, in two small
duodecimo volumes, in 1650, and his marriage to a lady
.named Rebecca — patronymic unknown — on September
28, 1651. In this year also he issued three further
tracts and one other in 1652. An “intercepted letter”
included among the Thurloe Papers1 indicates his pres¬
ence at Newton in the early part of 1653. It is not
possible unfortunately to identify the Pinner of Wake¬
field, 2 where his Note-Book tells us that he lived with
his wife “ in those dear days ” when “ the gates opened ”

and in a sedate repose prosecuted his medicinal genius (in a manner
valued to him), and at length became eminent in the chemical part
thereof, at Oxon and afterwards at London.” — Wood, loc. cit.

1 An Intercepted Letter of M. Vaughan to Mr Charles Roberts. —
Cousin Roberts : By the inclosed from Captain Jenkin John Hewett to
Mrs Lewes of Lanvigan, you may see that he threatens the country with
his troop. Mr Morgan of Therw and divers others of the best of the
country were at this cock -fight, which was kept no otherwise than ac¬
cording to the custom of all other schools. We conceived that there
was no troop in our country, nor under his command ; but it appears
by this his own letter that he hath them still listed and keeps them up
privately. For though he came not to the cock-fight, according to his
menaces, yet he had that morning at his house above thirty horse, with
saddles and pistols, which did much trouble and terrify the country people.
I pray learn if his highness hath lately granted him a commission.
Otherwise I know no reason but these actions should be taken notice of.
Our justices of the peace still slight the Lord Protector’s authority and
have now issued forth their warrants for the contribution, some in the
name of the keepers of the liberty by authority of parliament, others
without any name at all ; and divers gentlemen have been served with
them but refused to execute them. I wonder at these proceedings and
more at those that suffer them. I’ll assure you, the people — by reason
of this public and persevering contempt — will not believe that there is
a Lord Protector and do laugh at such relations. I could wish that those
whom it concerns would look to it, lest their too much clemency prove
hurtful to them. I pray let me hear from you with the first conveniency,
and how the business goes betwixt me and Mrs Games. Farewell.

Your friend and affectionate kinsman,
Tho. Vaughan

Newton, Ash-Wednesday, 1653.

For my respected kinsman,

Mr Charles Roberts,

at his chamber in Gray’s- Inn, This.

2 See Appendix I.

XI

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

and he believed himself to have entered deeply into the
realm of natural secrets.1 The next traceable event is
the publication of Euphrates, his last text, in 165 5. 2
There follows another period of silence, but on April
17, 1658, we learn by his own testimony3 that Rebecca
Vaughan died, and was buried at Mappersall in Bedford¬
shire.4 It was the great grief of his life, as the private
memorials shew, and he was presumably henceforth alone,
for there is no reason to think that a son was born to the
marriage, as inferred by one writer.6

Thomas Vaughan was now about thirty-six years of
age and had not reached therefore the prime of life ;
but he disappears from the field of authorship, and all
that we can glean concerning him is contained by a few
lines in the biographical notice of Wood. He is said to
have been under the protection and patronage of Sir
Robert Murray, Secretary of State for Scotland in the
days of the Commonwealth,6 but also a persona grata
under the Restoration in those of Charles II. When
the plague of 1665 drove the Court from London to
Oxford Thomas Vaughan went thither with his patron,
and a little later took up his residence with the Rector
of Albury, the Rev. Sam. Kem,7 at whose house, on
February 27 of that year, he was killed by an explosion
in the course of chemical experiments. He is said to
have been buried on March 1 in the church of Albury

1 See Appendix I.

2 See, however, Appendix IX, s.v. Attributed Works, accord¬
ing to which Eugenius Philalethes published a translation of Nollius
in 1657.

3 Appendix I, p. 446.

4 Mr E. K. Chambers obtained the following extract from the Register
of Mappersall 1658. Buried : Rebecka, the Wife of Mr Vahanne, the
26th of April.

6 Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. Thomas Vaughan

6 Wood : Athena: Oxonienses.

Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. Samuel Kem. He
was on the Parliamentary side in the days of the Civil War, and was
notorious for fighting, preaching and plundering ; but he became a con¬
vinced loyalist at the Restoration. It is difficult to understand Vaughan’s
connection with this dissolute character.

Biographical Preface

village “ by the care and charge of the said Sir Robert
Murray.” 1 This is on the authority of Wood and is
supported by Henry Vaughan in his Elegiac Eclogue,
to be quoted later. The “care and charge” must have
meant something more than burial fees, and there is a
tradition that a monument was erected. If so, all trace
of it has vanished, and the registers of Albury contain
no record of Vaughan’s interment.2 It seems to follow
that we know as much and as little about the passing
of Thomas Vaughan as might be expected from his literary
importance and repute at that period.3 His little books
could have appealed to a few only, though it may be
granted that occult philosophy was a minor fashion of
the time. He was satirised by Samuel Butler in . his
Character of an Hermetic Philosopher,4 and — as
some say — also in Hudibras itself. Among his con¬
temporaries therefore he was not at least unknown.

I proceed now to the consideration of a somewhat
involved question. Thomas Vaughan published Aula
Lucis, one of the later texts, under his terminal initials,

1 Athena: Oxonienses. But the letter of Henry Vaughan to John
Aubrey says only that his brother died “upon an employment for His
Majesty.”

3 He gave all his books and MSS. to Sir Robert Murray.

3 The Dictionary of National Biography is wrong in supposing
that the will of Thomas Vaughan is in Somerset House — reference 53
Mico — though there is one of a person bearing that name. He was,
however, of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, and a son William, to whom he
bequeathed most of his property, was the father of four children at the
date of making the will — namely, February 17th, 1662-63 — whereas any
issue of Thomas Vaughan of Newton and Rebecca his wife would have
been only about ten years old at that period.

4 The satire remained in MS. for something like a century. It is certain
that Butler intended to depict Vaughan and was acquainted with some of
his writings. The Hermetic Philosopher in question “adored” Cornelius
Agrippa, magnified the Brethren of the Rosy Cross, was at war with the
schoolmen, recommended Sendivogius and the Enchiridion of Jean
d’Espagnet — to all of which Vaughan answers. See The Genuine
Remains of Mr Samuel Butler . . . From the original MSS. ... by R.
Thyer, vol. ii, p. 225 et seq ., 1759. The suggestion that Ralpho the
squire of Hudibras was also intended for Vaughan can have been made
by no one acquainted with the works of Eugenius Philalethes. There is
no vestige of similitude.

• • •

XUl

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

S. N. Otherwise he wrote always as Eugenius Philalethes,
and out of this fact there arises a very curious question
. of identity, involving a confusion of distinct or apparently
distinct personalities, on which I hope to cast such light
that it may perhaps be regarded as determined. In the
year 1667 — being two years after Vaughan, according to
his history, had departed this life — there appeared at
Amsterdam a work entitled Introitus Apertus ad.
Occlusum Regis Palatium, edente Joanne Langio , the
accredited author being Eirenaeus Philalethes, described
as anonymus philosophus , and by himself as natu oAnglus ,
habitatione cosmopolitan It sprang at once into fame as a
treatise of undeniable Hermetic authority and exceptional
clearness on the Great Work of Alchemy.1 So far, how¬
ever, it would appear only that ai* English writer had
chosen Latin as his medium, the continent as place of
publication, and a pseudonym recalling that of Eugenius,
in all which there is nothing which calls for notice. But
an examination of the work and the circumstances under
which it was issued arrest attention. In the first place,
it came into the editor’s hands, not long prior to its
publication, “ from a most excellent knowing man of
these matters,” not otherwise described, while as regards
the author himself Langius says : <{ I know no more than
he who is most ignorant,” not even whether he was still
living. In the second place, he did not in his opinion
possess a <c true manuscript copy,” so that his edition
appeared subject to all faults.2

For the next significant fact we must pass, however,

1 It was reprinted in Museum Hermeticum Reformation et Amplifi-
catum in 1677 5 in 1683 at Venice; at Jena in 1699; in 1706 at Frank¬
furt; and in 1754a French translation appeared in BibliothLque des
Ptulosophes Alchimiques , vol. iv, together with Explication de ce Traite
de P Jflaletrie par lui-meme, the authenticity of which is doubtful.

The preface of Langius is of considerable interest and bibliographical
consequence. He points out acutely that The Open Entrance is not
only reminiscent of Sendivogius and his New Light OF Alchemy in
respect of perspicuity and candour but also in the matter of style. There
is no d°ubt that Sendivogius — or Alexander Seton behind him — was the
model of Eirenaeus ; both also adopted the descriptive title of Cosmopolite.

xiv

Biographical Preface

from the editor’s preface to that of the writer, who
opens with the following testimony : u I, being an adept
anonymous, a lover of learning and a philosopher, have
undertaken to write this little treatise concerning medicinal,
chemical and physical secrets, in the year of redemption
1645 and in the twenty-third year of my age.” The
motives by which he was actuated were (1) that he
might lead the Sons of the Art out of the labyrinth of
errors and the deceits of sophisters ; (2) that he might
be recognised by Adepts at large as their peer and their
brother. These reasons set aside, it remains that Eirenaeus
Philalethes, according to his own statement, accomplished
the Great Work at the age of twenty- two, and otherwise
that his memorial concerning it did not see the light for
twenty-two years. It is of course an interesting coinci¬
dence and nothing follows therefrom ; but as the result
of a simple calculation we shall find that he was born in
1622, or in the same year as Thomas Vaughan, if we
accept the Oxford University record, that the latter
matriculated at the age of sixteen in 1 63 8. 1 I am obviously
not prepared to deny that here is another coincidence,
however remarkable as such ; but I must confess that
imagination is disposed, on the other hand, to speculate
whether Vaughan really died in 1665, whether he did not
change his local habitation, adopting another pseudonym,
as he had done once previously.2 A certain romantic

1 The record is in agreement with the birth-date given by Wood.

2 Henry Vaughan was satisfied only too well on the fact of his brother’s
death, for he makes him the subject of an elegiac eclogue under the title of
Daphnis, recording “our long sorrows and his lasting rest.” The follow¬
ing lines have the unmistakable note of identity : —

Let Daphnis still be the recorded name
And solemn honour of our feasts and fame.

For though the Isis and the prouder Thames
Can show his relics lodged hard by their streams,

And must for ever to the honour’d name
Of noble Murray chiefly owe that fame,

Yet here his stars first saw him —

a reference to Usk and its vicinity.

XV

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

colouring is reflected on such a notion by the fact that
nothing was issued under the style of Eirenaeus Philalethes
till Eugenius had been settled in his grave at Albury,
according to rumour.

Our next task is to ascertain whether the subsequent
literary history of the two alchemists throws any light on
the subject, and it happens that so early as the year 1705
a German translation of The Open Entrance was
published at Hamburg under the name of Thomas de
Vagan.1 Since that date the confusion of the two
alchemists became almost a matter of habit 2 until — after
being misled myself by bibliographies then current — I
endeavoured to clear up the question in 1888. 3 But
it continues in certain quarters even to this day. It
follows that the birth coincidence is illustrated by early
identification, which may well have arisen through
similarity of pseudonyms,4 but certainly not owing to
the coincidence itself, with which no one would have
been acquainted on the continent. It was perpetuated
in England subsequently by transmission from writer
to writer.

1 Mr E. K. Chambers states that the Jena Latin edition of The Open
Entrance, published in 1699, has a preface by G. W. Wedelius, who
says of the author, Ex Anglia tamen vnlgo habetur oriundus et Thomas
de Vagan afifiellatus , a still earlier ascription, but he was not able to
verify it. There is, however, a copy in the British Museum at the
present time and I have been able to determine the point. The opinion
expressed by Wedelius at the end of the seventeenth century rests on
the authority of G. Hornius, an editor of Geber. The Abyssus Alchemic
describes Vaughan on the title-page as an English adept, the translator’s
short preface containing no particulars concerning him. The character¬
istic pseudonym of Thomas Vaughan does not appear anywhere, nor that
of Eirenaeus Philalethes.

2 They are distinguished carefully, however, by Anthony a Wood.

3 Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers, pp. 187-200.

4 The Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. George Starkey,
affirms that Eirenaeus Philalethes used the pseudonym of Eugenius “in
one case at least.” It is unfortunate that the case is not mentioned, but
I make no doubt that there is an error on the point of fact. The reference
may be to A Brief Natural History by Eugenius Philalethes, 1669,
on which see Appendix IX, pp. 489, 490. There are two things certain
about this tract, the first being that it is not by Thomas Vaughan, and the
second that it is not by Eirenaeus.

XVI

Biographical Preface

Passing now to the question whether the identification
is justified or can be regarded as tolerable, we are con¬
fronted by the fact that, with the exception of some
metrical exercises belonging to his earlier days, Vaughan
did not write in Latin. That he could have done so
there is no question if it became expedient or desirable
for any purpose in view, but the appearance of The
Open Entrance in that language cannot be said on the
surface to help an affirmative answer. The whole story
of the tract is, however, curious. I have mentioned that
Langius was in search of a better text than that which
he was induced to publish by his belief in its signal
importance. Two years after the Amsterdam edition,
or in 1669 — and with a preface dated August 9, 1668 —
there appeared in London — and in English — an edition
of The Open Entrance, edited by William Cooper,
who styled himself cca true Lover of Art and Nature.”
By the hypothesis it is not a translation of the Langius
text,1 but is described as <c the true manuscript copy
which John Langius in his preface doth so much thirst
after.” It is affirmed to have been in the editor’s
possession for “ many years before the publication in
Latin.” Moreover, the reader is directed to find “ con¬
siderable enlargements and explanations, wherein the
Latin translation is deficient.” I have checked these
variations, and some at least of them seem important to
the text. It is difficult to speak with certainty, and
I am putting the point tentatively, but on the whole I
am disposed to infer that William Cooper really had an

1 Lenglet du Fresnoy renders Cooper’s title into Latin as follows :
Introitus Apertus, ex manuscripto perfectiori in linguam Angli-
cancim versus et impressus , thus making him a translator. But the
English title in full is : Secrets Revealed, or An Open Entrance to
the Shut Palace of the King. Containing the Greatest Treasure in
Chemistry, never yet so plainly discovered. Composed by a most
famous Englishman, styling himself Anonymus , or Eyrreneus Philaletha
Cosmopolita, who, by Inspiration and Reading, attained to the Philo¬
sopher’s Stone at his Age of Twenty-three Years, Anno Domini 1645.
Published for the Benefit of all Englishmen by W. C. Esq.

xvii b

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

English version in his possession, however he came by
it. It is part of the Eirenaeus mystery. Cooper does
not pretend that it was the author’s autograph manu¬
script, but regards it as transcribed probably therefrom
and “very little corrupted.” In this case The Open
Entrance would have been written originally in English.
But against this I have to set the fact that in his preface
to Ripley Revived Eirenaeus Philalethes specifies that
he wrote it in Latin. He speaks of various tracts, giving
titles in most cases, including “ one in English, very
plain but not perfected. Unfortunately it slipped out
of my hand : I shall be sorry if it comes abroad into the
world.” He goes on to enumerate Brevis Manuductio
and Fons Ch ymic® Veritatis, which he has resolved to
suppress. He then adds : “ Two other Latin treatises, the
one entitled Ars Metallorum Metamorphoses, the other,
Introitus Apertus ad Occlusum Regis Palatium, I
lately wrote.” 1 This looks obviously final on the question,
but it does not follow that Cooper produced a fraudulent
version, translated from the Latin. The manuscripts of
Eirenaeus seem to have been scattered in many places, and
the Introitus had been written twenty-two years before it
appeared in Germany. An English translation is therefore
far from improbable, and, in addition to Cooper, there was
one possessed by Hornius — also in MS. form. Nothing,
however, accounts for variations from the Latin, more
especially when they seem important. These facts and
considerations are of no consequence to any issue respect¬
ing the identity of Eirenaeus and Eugenius, but they are
of moment on the bibliographical side.

The question of distinction or identity is in my
opinion capable of determination by reference to the
memorials themselves, in respect of their subject-matter
and mode of treatment, and by reference to the personal
side. I have put clearly and impartially all that can be

1 He speaks also of two lost poems in English, of an Enchyridion
and Diurnal.

xviii

Biographical Preface

said for the identification of the two writers, and it will
be seen that it comes to nothing beyond the similarity
of age. Against this trap to catch the unwary, we have
to set the following facts, (i) At no period of his life,
and much less at the beginning of his literary activity, he
being then in his twenty-eighth year, did Thomas
Vaughan claim to have accomplished the physical
Dvlagnum Opus. He testifies, on the contrary, that he
reached no term in the work on metals, and — even from
his own standpoint — he was not acquainted with what
is called the First Matter when he published his first
two texts. He was therefore ex hypothesi in a very
different position from Eirenaeus Philalethes, who claimed
in his twenty-third year that he could extract gold and
silver out of it.1 “ The things which we have seen —
he says otherwise — “ which we have taught and wrought,
which we possess and know — these do we declare.” 2
(2) Vaughan, on the other hand, as we shall find at
sufficient length in the Introduction which follows this
Preface, was a cosmical philosopher, cherishing all kinds
of doctrines and theories on the creation of the world,
on the primitive state of man, on his Fall and Redemp¬
tion — as seen in the light of Kabalistic and other occult
theosophies, about which Eirenaeus knew nothing appar¬
ently. (3) The personalities of the two men were almost
as the poles asunder, the Welsh mystic being an ardent
lover of Nature, a man of sentiment and imagination, a
typical poet of his period, belonging to a particular school,
whereas his co-heir in Hermetic tradition was positive,
practical, disturbed or consoled very little by the beauty
of external things, and but little of the humanist order.
(4) The identity of Eirenseus has never transpired,3 and

1 He says that “ the whole secret consists in Mercury,” which is sophic
and not vulgar. It is a chaos “ related to all metals as a mother,” and
“ out of it I know how to extract all things, even Sol and Luna, without
the transmuting Elixir.” — The Open Entrance, c. 1,2.

2 Ibid., c. 13.

3 In one of the British Museum copies of The Marrow of Alchemf,

xix

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

there are only traditional rumours concerning his life,
with one important exception. I think personally that
he must have visited George Starkey in America prior
to 1654.1 He has been identified otherwise with that
« stranger in a plain rustic dress,” who “ seemed like a
native of the North of Holland,” and who called on
John Frederick Helvetius at The Hague on Dec. 27,

published in 1654— reference 1033, g. 35, s.y. Eirenaeus Philoponos Phila-
lethes— there is a note in an old handwriting which says that the name
of Eirenseus was Childe. I have failed to carry this intimation further.
Mrs Atwood’s Suggestive Inquiry affirms on p. 51 of the new edition
that the author of The Open Entrance was Alexander Seton, but
contradicts it with characteristic confusion on p. 61.

1 George Starkey was bom in the Bermudas, graduated at Harvey
College in 1646, practised as a doctor in America, and came to England
at an uncertain date prior to 1654, when he published The Marrow
OF Alchemy as the work of Eirenaeus Philoponos Philalethes. In his
first preface thereto he recounts his acquaintance with a disciple of the
true Eirenaeus, and enumerates most of the latter’s writings thirteen years
before the first of them appeared in Germany. He claims that they were
lent to him by the Master’s pupil. He claims also that — in response to
his solicitation — the latter wrote Brevis Manuductio ad Campum
Sophicum , a tract entitled Elenchus Errorum in Arte Chemica Devi-
antium , and in fine The Marrow of Alchemy. By means of all these
manuscripts, Starkey says that he “attained the Mystery of the Mercury
and by it the First Whiteness.” He expressed also a hope that he should
have experience of the Red in a short time, but his teacher had not so
far instructed him, for the period of his own pledge — given to Eirenseus
Philalethes— was unexpired In Part I of The Marrow of Alchemy
the supposed Eirenaeus Philoponos — being the supposititious pupil —
narrates his own adventures and failures in the quest of the Great Work
and describes the adept to whom he owed everything. This artist bears all
the marks and signs of Eirenaeus Philalethes, is said to be an Englishman
of ancient and honourable family, “his years scarce thirty-three,” and a
citizen of the world, at present on his travels. After careful consideration,
I am led to conclude : (1) That the supposed pupil of Eirenaeus is a
figment of Starkey’s imagination ; (2) That owing to some prohibition
imposed by the “ adept anonymous,” who desired to remain unknown, or
for reasons proper to Starkey, he concealed in this manner his acquaint¬
ance with the great alchemist ; (3) That either The Marrow was his
own work or he inserted therein that section which contains the story of
Philoponos, which is actually his own story. There is nothing in the
poem to make the introduction of a biographical narrative in the least
likely or needful : on the contrary it involves a break in continuity. The
poem seems scarcely worthy of a great Hermetic reputation, but on the
whole the second alternative appears more probable. In either case,
Starkey’s story of the pupil was ignored by William Cooper when he
edited Ripley Revived. It remains to add that Starkey died of the plague

XX

Biographical Preface

1666, to discuss the claims of alchemy and to exhibit
the Stone of the Philosophers.1 It is to be noted also
that in 1668 — when his tract on The Preparation of
Sophic Mercury was published at Amsterdam by Daniel
Elzevir — he is described as an American philosopher.
It is obvious on the faith of these statements — whether
all or one — that the life of Eirenaeus Philalethes was
a complete contrast to that of Thomas Vaughan, the
measure of whose wanderings was circumscribed by
Wales, London and Oxford.2 (5) But the real and
crucial point is a question of the literary sense. On

in 1665, or in the same year that Thomas Vaughan died from inhaling
the fumes of Mercury. The precious MSS. of Philalethes which he had
seen and studied began to be published two years after in Germany, with
the exception of Ripley Revived, which appeared in London in 1678.
In two cases they were produced by editors abroad, while William
Cooper was answerable for the English work, presumably another text
which had come into his possession. Nothing seems to have been
issued under the supervision of the author himself, and Mr E. K.
Chambers says that “he cannot be shewn to have outlived Thomas
Vaughan.” The remark is gratuitous, for there is nothing to prove that
he existed after 1654, when Starkey first made known that such a person
had been abroad in the world and had achieved great things in alchemy.
It follows from the preface to Ripley that Philalethes obtained his initia¬
tion from books and not from a Master, as Starkey states. It follows also
that by 1645 he had written five tracts, if not more — his information being
worded vaguely — an extraordinary output for a youth of twenty-two, not
to speak of the studies and attainments presupposed thereby.

1 See VlTULUS AUREUS, 1667. The narrative with which I am con¬
cerned is contained in the third chapter, and the age of the visitor is said
to have been about forty-three or forty-four, being approximately that of
Eirenaeus in that year. He exhibited an ivory box, “ in which there were
three large pieces of a substance resembling glass or pale sulphur, and
informed me that here was enough of the tincture for the production of
twenty tons of gold.” He owed his own knowledge to a Master who had
stayed a few days in his house and had taught him “this Divine Art” —
which seems contrary to the story of Eirenaeus. Helvetius confesses that
when he held the substance in his hand he scraped off some particles
with his nail, but they changed lead into glass instead of into gold. He
mentioned the fact when he saw his visitor on a later occasion, and was
told that he should have protected the spoil with yellow wax before
administering it to the metal. The adept ended by giving Helvetius
another morsel with instructions, by following which he succeeded subse¬
quently in transmuting six drachms of lead into the finest gold ever seen
by a certain goldsmith to whom it was offered for examination.

2 Grosart suggests that he may have visited Edinburgh, presumably on
account of his connection with Murray, but it is pure speculation.

xxi

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

the evidence of that faculty, it is certain that the books
written under the name of Eugenius are not by the
hand which wrote The Open Entrance and produced
Ripley Revived. It is a question which lies wholly
outside the issues of debate and is for those who can
see — meaning for those who possess the sense. It will
be final for them, if they are at the pains to compare
the texts, even as it is final for me. I conclude that
Thomas Vaughan was not Eirenaeus Philalethes, who¬
soever the latter may have been, and that they have
been merged one into another solely over a confusion
of pseudonyms.

The name of Vaughan was forgotten speedily in
England, and on the Continent1 it survived mainly by
its identification with Philalethes the Cosmopolite. The
reputation of The Open Entrance magnified its author
and encompassed him with a halo of romance. Thomas
Vaughan the Silurist denies specifically his connection
with any Rosicrucian Brotherhood ; but Thomas de
Vagan, Adeptus Anglus and supposed author, of Abyssus
Alchimi^e Exploratus, had attained the Elixir of Life
and was the concealed Imperator of the Invisible
Fraternity. When Leo Taxil in modern days created
Diana Vaughan, as the heroine-in-chief of Luciferian
Palladism, he furnished her with an ancestor in the
person of Thomas Vaughan, author of The Open
Entrance and Chief of the Rosy Cross.2 It may be

i

1 Anthroposophia Theomagica and Magia Adamica, with its
continuation, Ccelum Terr^e, were translated into German in 1704.
Euphrates appeared in the Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum, vol. i,
Niirnberg, 1728. At Berlin, in 1782, all these tracts, together with Anima
Magica Abscondita, Lumen de Lumine and Aula Lucis, as also
the Metamorphosis of Metals, Celestial Ruby and Font of
CHEMICAL Truth, appeared under the name of Eugenius Philalethes in
Hermetisches ABC, Berlin, 1788-89,

2 It will be sufficient to refer my readers to a volume called Devil-
WORSHIP in France, which I had occasion to publish in 1896, for the
exposure of the Taxil conspiracy against Masonry. See the chapter
entitled Diana Unveiled. Leo Taxil put back the birth-date of Thomas
Vaughan to 1612 and represented him as received into the Rosicrucian

xxii

Biographical Preface

added that in theosophical circles Thomas Vaughan is
now regarded as a Master, but that is a denomination
which each of us must be permitted to understand after
his own manner. I think on my part that he had seen
the end of adeptship, but there is no record and no
suggestion that he attained it.

Though Eugenius Philalethes comes before us above
all things as an occult and mystical writer,1 we shall make
a mistake if we disregard his literary side, not for what
it marks in achievement but for that which it connotes
in ambition. I set apart his Latin exercises, though — as
Holofernes might have said — they argue facility, and they
have been praised, moreover, for their elegance. They
indicate a bent at best. But if he had not been carried
over by zeal into the paths of the Secret Tradition I
believe that his memory might well have remained among
us as a writer of English verse, for he would have gone
further in that field. His metrical fragments are proofs
of considerable faculty. He would have followed the
lead of his brother, whether or not he might have reached
a higher grade than that which is represented by Henry
Vaughan’s occasional but qualified excellence.

It remains to say that in preparing the various texts for

Fraternity by Robert Fludd in 1636. In 1644 he presided over a
Rosicrucian assembly, at which Elias Ashmole was present. He wrote
The Open Entrance in 1645. In 1654 he became Grand Master
of the R.C. Order, which worshipped Lucifer as the good god, and in
1678 he was translated to the paradise of Lucifer. It is not worth while
dwelling on these inventions at the present day, but Leo Taxil had not
acted the last scenes of his memorable comedy when Mr E. K. Chambers
published his edition of Henry Vaughan, and he gave considerable space
to the subject in his second volume.

1 It may be convenient for bibliographical purposes to mention here
that in 1888 I edited Anthroposophia Theomagica, Anima Magica
Abscondita, Magia Adamica, and Ccelum Terr^e under the general
title of The Magical Writings of Thomas Vaughan. My discovery of
Vaughan’s precious Note-Book is announced therein. In 1910 I edited
LUMEN DE Lumine with an introduction to which reference is made
elsewhere. EUPHRATES appeared in the series entitled COLLECTANEA
Hermetica, 1893, being edited with notes by Miss Florence Farr, i.e.,
S. S. D. D.

xxiii

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

the present edition I have met with singular difficulties
over the Greek and Latin citations. I do not refer merely
to the corrupt state of the former, but, firstly, to the ex¬
treme difficulty of checking in both cases, owing to the
vague nature of the references — when indeed there are
references at all ; and, secondly, to the extraordinary dis¬
covery, when a certain proportion of the extracts have
been at last identified, that Thomas Vaughan was too
often quoting from memory, giving the general sense of
a passage but apart from literal accuracy.

A. E. WAITE.

XXIV

INTRODUCTION

Thomas Vaughan is the most interesting figure in
Hermetic literature of the seventeenth century in England,
though it must be admitted that he is one of a triad
between whom it is difficult to choose, speaking within
that restricted measure. In the generation which pre¬
ceded immediately there was the illuminated master,
full of high intimations after his own manner, who wrote
A New Light of Alchemy. He belongs to the list in
so far as I am right in believing that his true name was
Alexander Seton, though his work appeared under that
of Michael Sendivogius, a pupil or follower who issued
it — in this case — as his own. The question is obscure
and the last word remains to be said thereon — unless
ultimately it may be left over for want of materials by
which to reach a settlement.1 In the same generation as
Vaughan and almost his pseudonymous namesake, there
is Eirenseus Philalethes — that inspired “adept anonymous
and lover of learning” with whom I have dealt in the
preface. There is no conviction to compare in alchemical
literature with that which moves through the written
memorials of these two peers and co-heirs whom I have
classed with the Welsh mystic. It certifies everywhere
that they had reached — -in their own view — the term of
search and had completed the great adventure. Within
their proper limits of symbolism, both are more clear,
more positive, more constructive than Thomas Vaughan,
though all at their best were on fire with a strange zeal of
mission and were assuredly brothers in God. In particular

1 It is to be understood that the New Light was written in the Latin
tongue.

XXV

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

as regards the third of this Hermetic triad, there is no
growth of the mind from small beginnings unto greater
ends in the shining records of Eirenaeus. That Brevis
Manuductio which is presumably his first work repre¬
sents the same height of certitude as The Open En¬
trance or Ripley Revived, which may be ranked — I
suppose — among his last. But Anthroposophia Theo-
magica and its companion tract are products of a
prentice hand in comparison with Lumen de Lumine
or Euphrates. There is another distinction between
them which is worth noting : the predominant tempera¬
mental characteristics of Vaughan through all his books
are those of sentiment and emotion, and we know to
what lengths he was carried by these dispositions in his
duels with Henry More. His personal element is there¬
fore always in the ascendant, and though it is attractive
and even winning — the calamities of his quarrels not¬
withstanding and notwithstanding all their Billingsgate —
it contrasts strangely with the intellectual repose of
Eirenaeus and Seton, which is so like a repose in science.
Finally there is a third distinction, and it is that by which
I am brought to my proper point of departure. So far
as it is possible to speak with certainty in the absence of
an established canon of criticism, the New Light and
The Open Entrance are alchemical works of their period
in the more strict understanding of the term, by which I
mean that the transmutation of metals is their sole or
main concern ; and the claims of their authors to the
mastery attained and placed on record are to be taken in
this sense, and in this — I think — only. They were men
of religious mind by the indubitable testimony of their
writings, and because it follows from all Hermetic litera¬
ture that an undevout alchemist would be still more mad
than even an impious astronomer. But they are not men
who come before us carrying great lights or indeed any
lights at all on the supreme subject of religion. The
analogy of things above and below instituted for them

xxvi

Introduction

a bond of union between the mysteries of Hermetic
practice and the practice of those other mysteries which
belong to the Kingdom of Heaven ; but in the recogni¬
tion of this correspondence they reached the term of
their proposal in spiritual things, so far as their books
were concerned. They were dealing with another subject.
It was otherwise with Thomas Vaughan, albeit he had
worked in metals and did often recur thereto.

As one who comes out of Wild Wales and sets towards
London, Vaughan entered into literary life with an abiding
implicit in his heart — that the great adventurers God,
attained and known in the entire being, all deeps and
heights thereof. He may have followed many false
processes in outward and inward life ; he may have
misread some symbols which were common modes of
expression in the school to which he belonged ; he may
have devised fantastic points of meeting between paths
of thought and experiment which do not belong to
one another ; but he never changed consciously the
ground of his intent. He began in the “ narrow name
of Chemia ” 1 and found nothing to his purpose, following in
their course C£ who will hear of nothing but metals.” He
enlarged his field of consideration and — believing that he-
stood upon the threshold of great secrets — he set open
a glass of dream upon the cosmic processes. It is certain
again that he came to nothing therein, though he had
looked to surprise creative art at work in the laboratory
of the universe and to direct experiments thereby for his
own ends in research. But he knew always that Dominus
nonpars est sed totum — alike in Art and Nature, above all
in things of the human soul. He understood or divined
that man is the great subject, to which the universe
appeals, that God appeals therein, and that the terminus ad
quem of our nature is attained in so far as that which is
without us is received — or shall I say acquired ? — by that
which is within. For him as for the great theosophists

1 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 95.
xxvii

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

of all ages and nations there was a God immanent in the
external world, as there was a God immanent within the
individual soul ; but the vital consequence of this truth
in both its aspects was in proportion to that law of recep¬
tion which operates by the mode of realisation. Man is
the criterion therefore and he the centre about which, in
his respect, the worlds revolve : all things become man
to the extent that they are quickened within him by the
work of consciousness. Dominus non pars est sed totum
when the Lord of all is known and so reigns as Lord of
all within us. Hereof is the distinction between Thomas
Vaughan and those whom I have called his co-heirs in
the concern of the Hermetic Mystery.

As regards the realm of possible attainment which
can open before the soul of man, he tells us (i) that
u man in his original is a branch planted in God,” 1 and
that he enjoyed as such “a continual influx from the
stock to the scion ” ; (2) that he was removed and
. grafted upon another tree, from which it follows (3) that
he must be planted back or regrafted — in other words,
must return whence he came. When Vaughan leaves
this quality of symbolism it is to affirm (4) that Love
is the medium which unites the Lover to the Beloved,2
this being at once the hypothesis at large of all mystical
theology and the veridical experience of all who have
entered the path of union and followed the quest therein.
In respect of the union and its nature (5) we must be
united to God by an essential contact, and then we shall
know all things “ by clear vision in the Divine Light.” 3
The ground of this union is called (6) “ a spiritual,
metaphysical grain, a seed or glance of light, simple and
without any mixture, descending from the first Father
of Lights ” 4 and resident in the soul of man. In this
sense Vaughan lays down (7) that the soul is “ divine

1 Anthroposophia Theomagica, p. 10.

2 Ibid p. 14. 3 Ibid., p. 49.

4 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 81.

xxviii

Introduction

and supernatural,” 1 having a spirit within it which God
breathed into man and by which “ man is united again
to God.”2 (8) More concisely, the spirit of man is itself
“ the Spirit of the Living God.” 3 But so long as the
soul is in the body it is (8) “like a candle shut up in a
dark lantern.” There is, however, a certain Art — and
1 conceive that in the meaning of our mystic it is literally
an Art of Love — “ by which (9) a particular spirit may be
united to the universal ” 4 and (10) man may be taken into
the Deity,6 as into “ the true fountain and centre of life.” 6
But we know so little of this Art that we are said (n)
to be born with a veil over the face, “ and the greatest
mystery, both in divinity and philosophy, is how to
remove it.”7 (12) We do not realise that there is an

America without and an America which extends within.8
But (13) the key to the whole mystery is the nearness
of God to the heart of man ;9 and it is in the opening
of this Gate to Divine Knowledge that, in the view of
Vaughan and the Kabalists, (14) the soul finds “the true
Sabbath, the Rest of God into which the creature shall
enter.” 10

I have drawn these citations together for the purpose
of indicating that Thomas Vaughan had conceived at
least a fairly complete theory of that union between
God and the soul which is the end of mystical life ; and
the question which arises out of them is whether their
note of certitude belongs to the order of intellectual
conviction or whether it is rooted in experience. It is
valuable in the first case as indicating that he had a true
light of mind on the one thing needful and the Great
Work of the true and only adeptship, namely, the attain¬
ment of the saints. It is vital, however, in the second,

1 Anthroposophia Theomagica, p. 33. 2 Ibid., p. 42.

3 Ibid., p. 52. 4 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 77.

5 Magia Adamica, p. 145. 6 Ibid.

7 Anthroposophia Theomagica, p. 40. 8 Ibid., p. 6.

9 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 13 ; Magia Adamica, p. 135.

10 Lumen de Lumine, p. 302.

xxix

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

because he is then a witness speaking from within. He
is not in the Court of the Temple but rather in the Holy
of Holies. An answer comes from himself, when he
says very earnestly : “ Reader, be not deceived in me.
I am not a man of any such faculties, neither do I
expect this blessing ” — he has been speaking of Spiritual
Regeneration — “ in such a great measure in this life.” 1
He goes on to describe himself in the words of Cornelius
Agrippa, as a finger-post pointing forward and indicating
u the right, infallible way” to those undertaking the
journey.2 Beyond this testimony which he gives of
his own will and accord it is obvious that we cannot go
and must be content with what we have therein. While
it is borne out reasonably by his writings, which are for
the most part reflected from known authorities, the fact
is without prejudice to great occasional lights, which
break forth there and here in his pages and are the
brighter since they come unawares, at times amidst
cosmical speculations at once arid and dreary, or in the
extraction of some hidden but not vital sense in the letter
of Genesis. There is an example in that place where he
speaks of ascending to c< the Supernatural Still Voice ”
and the soul’s invisible elements.3 There is the illumina¬
tion of that memorable dictum which reminds all “ men
of desire” that u we are employed in a perpetual con¬
templation of the absent beauty.”4 There is the allusion
to that state when the veils are taken away, when we
know “ the Hidden Intelligence ” and behold the “ In¬
expressible Face.” 5 I conceive it to be the last work in
the world of images, on the threshold of that final mode
when the seer and the seen are one. The things that are
shadowed forth by Vaughan on this side of his subject
are greater than any that he formulates fully and clearly
in debate on the soul of man, for there his appeal is to

1 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 1 13. 2

3 Ibid., p. 112. 4 Lumen de Lumine, p. 298.

6 Ibid., p. 299.

XXX

Introduction

authority, whereas he looks here into his own glass of
vision. The things of the spirit of which he treats
briefly are deeper than those at their best which deal
with cosmic mysteries. On the occasional subject he
was inspired, though the gift in this respect was some¬
times full and free, at others thin and uncertain. But
because it was occasional only, we have to realise, after
every allowance, that there are left only in our hands a
few lines of intimation suspended in space, as it were,
not any woven skein by the following of which we can
reach over the path of quest to the end thereof. He
does not help us therefore on his own part towards that
which he calls in his symbolism the Septenary and the
true Sabbath, “ the Rest of God into which the creature
shall enter,” 1 so that we can ascend in the mind with
him “ from this present distressed Church, which is in
captivity with her children, to the free Jerusalem from
above, which is the mother of us all.” 2

The explanation is that Thomas Vaughan appears to
have had another concern in the hypothetical world of
mystical possibility, as regards the subject Man. This is
the body of adeptship ; and it seems to be the veil of his
sanctuary, the real but concealed thesis, as a collation of
the references will show, (i) The glorified face of Moses
descending from Sinai foreshadows “ our future estate in
the regeneration,” or — in other words — the glorified body
of sanctity.3 (2) It would be after this manner that the
“hard and stubborn flints ” of his symbol become “ chryso-
liths and jasper in the new, eternal foundation.4 ” (3) But

if, as I believe, he regarded the body of adeptship as a
state that could be attained in this life, he would have
held that it is implied in the Rosicrucian counsel which
he quotes : “ Be ye transmuted from dead stones into
living philosophical stones.” 5 (4) So also there is that

1 Lumen de Lumine, p. 302. 2 Ibid.

3 Anthroposophia Theomagica, p. 26.

4 Lumen de Lumine, p. 302.

6 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 100.

xxxi

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

significant allusion in the same extract to a philosophical
conversion “ of body into spirit and of spirit into body,” 1
(5) from corruption into “a perfect mode,” wherein the
body would be preserved continually.2 (6) The Medicine
is, however, <c in Heaven itself”3 and not to be found
elsewhere, yet not meaning thereby that it is remote in
place or time, but rather in that centre which — being

us — is a centre that can be found everywhere,
the perfect Medicine,” 4 and the time of

is

«

within

(7) it

its perfection is when the light u strikes from the centre”
within us “ to the circumference, and the Divine Spirit ”
— understood also as within — hath so swallowed up
the body that it is cc a glorified body, splendid as the sun
and moon.”5 (8) The thesis is that man in his normal
mode is in what Vaughan calls “ the mean creation ” and
has two alternatives before him — either to know corrup¬
tion, “ as commonly all men do,” or enter into cc a spiritual,
glorified condition, like Enoch and Elijah, who were
translated.” 6 (9) It is such a perfection of the body as

the soul is said to be expecting,7 and that which mediates
in the attainment, which alone fortifies and alone can
bring <c to a beauteous specifical fabric,” is the “ Spirit of the
Living God.” 8 (10) Lastly, in his adapted alchemical ter¬

minology — which has never quite the ring of the canonical
alchemical adepts — Vaughan gives in one place a kind of
note on the process or procedure in the work. It is of
course inscrutable. The <c chaos,” which is a frequent
alchemical term for the First Matter, is in a state of cor¬
ruption owing to the Fall of Man ; being the basis of all
things, it is that of man’s physical body ; and it has to
be purified in him. The adepts went to work thereon,
opened it, purified it, brought it to cc the immortal ex¬
treme ” and made of it “ a spiritual, heavenly body.” 9
Such — says Vaughan — was their physic, and it would

1 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 102. 2 Ibid., p. 104.

3 Ibid. 4 Ibid., p. 109. 5 Ibid., p. no.

0 Ccelum Terr/e, p. 217. 7 Ibid., p. 231.

8 Ibid., p. 230. 9 Ibid., p. 217.

XXX11

Introduction

seem therefore that he is speaking physically. But he adds
immediately : “ In this performance they saw the image of
that face which Zoroaster calls the pre-essential counten¬
ance of the Triad.” 1 Out of what order of physical pro¬
cedure such a result is brought about must remain an
open question, and the hypothesis cannot be translated
therefore into intelligible terms. We can remember only
two intimations which occur in another place, amidst an
almost inextricable confusion between cosmical specula¬
tions concerning the Soul of the world and those of the
Soul in man. The first refers to cc a certain Art by which
a particular spirit may be united to the universal, and
Nature by consequence may be strangely exalted and
multiplied,” 2 recalling the supposed multiplication of the
Stone in Alchemy, which is literally the power of its
tincture over base metals for their conversion into those
that are perfect by the Hermetic hypothesis — namely,
gold and silver. The second seems primarily an allusion
to the soul in man and its imprisonment in certain vehicles,
through which streams cc the light which is in her” under
a visible form. In this state, says Vaughan, “ it is first
made subject to the artist.” 3 By analogy, however, such
a soul is resident in all substances and can be educed from
all. The way of eduction, as usual, is not indicated, so
the process is again unintelligible, though a few readers
may be reminded of Mrs Atwood’s reveries on magnetic
or super-magnetic operations in spiritual alchemy.4 We
are dealing, however, with a particular and recurring
allusion, and its value is another question.

It is known that the doctrine concerning the radiant

1 CCELUM TERR.E, p. 217.

2 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 77. 3 Ibid., p. 80.

4 Compare Lumen de Lumine, p. 302, where the discourse of Vaughan
passes without any break from a consideration which seems to be physical
into the mysteries of rebirth and resurrection. He quotes the Hermetic
axiom that each thing bears within it the seed of its own regeneration,
which is obviously true of man, for the matter of the work is within us.
The work upon this matter is said, however, to be performed by an in¬
visible artist, being the Spirit of God. The salvation secured thereby is
synonymous with transmutation.

xxxiii c

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

body or robe of glory is very old in mystical literature
and is entitled to our respect as such. For Zoharic and
Christian theosophists it is the body of this life transformed
at the epoch of the general resurrection ; for Neo-Platon¬
ism it is a spiritual body. The alchemists claimed, how¬
ever, that there was a Medicine of men and metals, which
was identical at the root for both, and by which — accord¬
ing to Vaughan — the particulars in the various kingdoms
of Nature could be brought to perfection after their own
kind. It was the tincture or agent of transmutation in
men and animals, vegetable and mineral substances.1
There is no question that he reflects here some intima¬
tions of the literature at large. But most alchemists were
content with the thesis that human bodies could be kept
in health by the medicine ; they were not brought into
an imperishable condition and they were not glorified.
Vaughan, however, drew his notions more especially
from the translations of Enoch and Elias ; from the arch¬
natural condition which must be postulated concerning a
body that could be taken up to heaven in a chariot of
fire ; from the body of Christ in its resurrection state
and its ascent into the highest heaven ; from the bodies
of the redeemed, unto whom in their trans-corporeal
state was reserved the glory of Paradise and all the con¬
sequence of the Blessed Vision of God, seen ex hypothesis
for theology, with eyes which are after all the transfigured
eyes of flesh. But all this was his forecast — so to speak
— in the heights, and it is brought down into lower
ranges at certain points in his texts on which I have had
occasion to annotate. They are entirely fantastic, and as
such are his own and no other’s. In the present place
it is sufficient to say that (i) he identifies the Philosophical
Medicine with the mystical earth 2 — Terra spirituals ^ Terra
Adama and Terra viventium — of which man was made ;
(2) which earth is otherwise to be understood as the

1 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 95.

3 Anthroposophia Theomagica, pp. 32, 33.

xxxiv

Introduction

spirit of this world and the Tree of Knowledge, a <c fleshly
and sensual” subject,1 being that which in more conven¬
tional terminology “ brought death into the world and
all our woe.” Did occasion arise, it would be difficult
to find a middle way between such terms of contradiction ;
but we are instructed sufficiently on their value when we
hear later on that in eating the fruit of the Tree man
became guilty of the world’s “ curse and corruption,” was
made “ a felon and a murderer” in his own opinion.2
All his occasional lights notwithstanding, the truth is that
Vaughan was too often a loose and confused thinker,
having a tendency to forget his own context a few pages
backward or forward in the given text. Once more,
however, the fact is not exactly of our concern, for I have
been only establishing his point of view over a particular
and apparently favoured issue. The historical commen¬
tary thereon and — mutatis mutandis — on all such theses
throughout alchemical literature is that in spite of their
claims respecting an universal medicine, we have no
evidence before us that the technical adepts attained either
the body of adeptship or any valid process for the pro¬
longation of life. Paracelsus wrote much on this subject
and died in his prime sadly. Vaughan was a physical
sufferer, as his note-book shews,3 and moreover he
desired to be dissolved that he might dwell with his wife
in God.4 The inference is that the old masters of physical
alchemy — and those who were like them in the long chain
of Hermetic tradition — followed a Quixotic quest. The
records are against the claim, in the sense that they are
(i) utterly hostile, or (2) there is no evidence whatever,
seeing that we do not know how most of the adepts either
lived or died. But out of this state of unknowing there
arises no argument for long life.

The historical position is the same in respect of material

1 Ibid., pp 43, 44. 2 Magia Adamica, p. 143.

3 See Appendix I, s.v. Memories Sacrum , No. 2, p. 445 ; No, 12,
p. 451 ; No. 13, p. 452.

4 Ibid., No. 1, p. 445; No. 3, p.446; No. 11, p. 451.

XXXV

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

wealth obtained by any process of transmutation. The
most arresting first-hand testimony to the fact of such an
operation on metals is that of Eirenaeus Philalethes ; 1
but this witness is not in evidence, for after the lapse
of nearly three hundred years we have failed to learn
certainly who he was, and herein — above all subjects —
an anonymous claimant is out of court. Again the
strongest testimony to the fact of transmutation in the
laboratory of a responsible and known person is that of
Helvetius,2 but the man by whose powder it was per¬
formed was an unknown and anonymous visitor, although
— remembering Paracelsus3 — Helvetius designated him
Elias the Artist. While, moreover, the personal sincerity
of the Swiss chemist is in my opinion inexpugnable, we
have no means of knowing at this day whether or not
he was in error as to the substance produced in his
crucible by the addition of some mysterious powder to
molten lead. On the other hand, we do know certainly
that the operation as described is impossible, and that
although gold in the future may be produced by science
it will not be after this manner. Such being the state
of the case on its experimental side, we have no record
of anyone being enriched by the art of alchemy, Nicholas
Flamel excepted, and his story — much as it calls for
reconsideration — is either largely or entirely mythical.

I pass now to a short consideration of that subject by

1 See the account of his visit to a goldsmith’s shop, carrying six hundred
pounds’ worth of alchemical silver for sale. — An Open Entrance TO
the Closed Palace of the King, cap. xiii.

2 See Vitulus Aureus — already quoted — in which — according to the
sub-title there is discussed “the most rare miracle of Nature,” being the
transmutation “ in a moment of time ” of a mass of lead into gold “ by the
infusion of a small particle of our Stone.” Perhaps I should bracket here¬
with the testimony of Van Helmont in Arbor VlT^E and elsewhere.

See De Tinctura Philosophorum, cap. iv, in which Paracelsus
speaks of the concealment of things belonging to the Art “ even to the
coming of Elias the Artist, at which time there shall be nothing so occult
that it shall not be revealed.” When his visitor came to Helvetius,
carrying what seemed to be the Stone of the Philosophers, he concluded
that Elias had come.

xxxvi

Introduction

which Vaughan is engrossed throughout. A hypothesis
concerning the First Matter fills his tracts, approached
under a variety of aspects but involving a continual re¬
petition, after the manner of his period. In common
with other alchemists, he understood by the term an
universal substance out of which all things were made,
and there was held to be Scriptural authority for the thesis
as well as the designation. The given name was Water,
being that Water over which the Spirit of God moved at
the beginning. Metals were produced out of this sub¬
stance, with the rest of things, and it did not appear to
the alchemists an unwarrantable supposition that if they
could isolate it and operate directly thereon it might be
possible to make gold and silver. The particular form of
the reverie appears to have been that the pure state or
mode of the First Matter, which in combination with hypo¬
thetically impure states composed the base metal lead,
could be raised to another mode by adding more of the
Virgin Matter, as a result of which the impurities would
be expelled or transmuted and the lead would become
gold. By a similar hypothesis the First Matter could
be administered to man, being the basis of his physical
nature, and it would act upon him as a physical elixir or
universal medicine. I am presenting or interpreting the
view in a very rough manner for the sake of simplicity :
it is by no means so simple in Vaughan or those who
preceded him. Furthermore, the alchemists believed
themselves to have identified this First Matter — which
according to the hypothesis was obviously to be found
everywhere — and had submitted it successfully to their
operations along the lines indicated. Let us glance at
this side of the claim as presented by Thomas Vaughan*
(i) He does not come before us as one having a super¬
ficial or merely speculative knowledge of the First Matter ;
he has been “ instructed in all the secret circumstances
thereof, which few upon earth understand.”1 (2) He

1 Ccelum Terr.®, p. 215.
xxxvii

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

leads us to infer that he has seen it, handled it, and
learned its central, invisible essence by experimental
ocular demonstration.1 (3) Again, he says that he speaks
out of his own experience and registers in this connec¬
tion a mistake which he made in the practice.2 (4) He
bears witness to the truth therefore and is no deceiver.3
(5) Moreover, he has not only seen, handled and worked
upon the First Matter but has also tasted it4 — as one
who partakes of a medicine. (6) But, his familiarity not¬
withstanding — and when he believed it to be under his eyes
• — he found it “ impossible to describe,5’ on account appar¬
ently of its “ laxative, unstable, incomposed substance.” 6
The fact did not prevent him from giving many descrip¬
tions, for which he would have claimed accuracy, and
some examples of which may be cited in the next place.
I will set aside those which occur in his two earliest tracts,
for in these he was feeling his way and allows us to infer
subsequently that he had reached no certain point.

(1) Man is the absolute lord of the First Matter, and
all his fortunes proceed therefrom, whence it follows that
he who secures both it and the use thereof “ can make
his fortunes constant,” 6 the meaning being that “gold
and silver, pearls and diamonds”7 are modes of the First
Matter. (2) It is at once the minera of man and the
basis of the Philosopher’s Stone.8 (3) It is called in¬
differently water and earth by Moses, but is neither u in
their common complexions,” being “a slimy, spermatic,
viscous mass, impregnated with all powers, celestial and
terrestrial.” 9 (4) It renews itself in a thousand ways,

“and is never a perpetual tenant to the same form.” 10
(5) it is “ the immediate catholic character of God
Himself in His unity and trinity,” 11 which may mean
categorically that it is one as regards nature but mani-

1 CCELUM TERETE, p. 193.

3 Lumen de Lumine, p. 272.

6 Lumen de Lumine, p. 277.

7 Iibd ', p. 128. 8 Ibid ., p. 163.

*° Ibid., p. 1 8 1 .

xxxviii

2 Ibid., p. 221.

4 Euphrates, p. 397.

6 Magia Adamica, p. 127.
0 Ibid., pp. 163, 164.

11 Ccelum Terr^e, p. 193.

Introduction

fests in three aspects. (6) In the outward shape or
figure it resembles a stone, and yet it is not a stone ; 1
but this description is qualified in several places subse¬
quently and contradicted expressly in others, it being
obvious that a slimy mass can only be called a stone in
mendacious symbolism. (7) At the beginning it was
condensed into water out of a certain cloud and darkness,
being the nihil quo ad nos of Dionysius and Divine Dark¬
ness : 2 in other words, it came forth from God, but
whether by creation or otherwise we are left to speculate.
(8) It is the Second Nature from God Himself and the
Child of the Blessed Trinity.3 This Second Nature is
not therefore the Second Person. (9) It is the mother
of all.4 (10) It is delicate and tender, like animal sperm,
“ is almost a living thing,” and indeed “ Nature doth
produce some animals out of it.”5 (11) It is invisible,6

meaning presumably in its normal state, since Vaughan
affirms that he has seen it. (12) It is — apparently —
brought into manifestation as a certain limosity extracted
from the earth, air, fire and water, “ for every one of them
contributes from its very centre a thin, slimy substance ;
and of their several slimes Nature makes the sperm by
an ineffable union and mixture.”7

It follows from the last citation that the First Matter
and Second Nature from the Blessed Trinity is not a
simple substance, though immanent in all things and
ex hypothesi educible from all, but a composite — the parts
of which must be drawn out of their several receptacles.
This is the first and only occasion on which Vaughan
speaks in print of its extraction, so that it can be made
subject to the operations of an “artist”; and it is in
express contradiction to all his theoretical views, the diffi¬
culty not being removed by allowing that such earth is
not earth literally, such fire no common fire, and so of the

1 Ccelum Terr^e, p. 196. 2 Ibid p. 213. 3 Ibid, p. 214.

4 Ibid., p. 215. 6 Ibid., p. 221.

9 Lumen de Lumine, p. 247. 7 Aula Lucis, p. 321,

XXXIX

The Works of Thomas V aughan

remaining hypothetical elements of old physics. Else¬
where it is from the First Matter that the supposed
elements came forth, and so also the three philosophical
principles, denominated Salt, Sulphur and Mercury, are
modes thereof. It is a strange commentary on that
primal substance of beings and of things which Thomas
Vaughan believed himself to have seen and handled.
The anachronism and insufficiency are obvious. We
may rest assured that he had come upon something in
his untutored chemical experiments and was egregiously
mistaken about it. On his own admission, he was un¬
acquainted with the First Matter when he first wrote
thereon,1 and he did not know it subsequently when
he thought that he did. The science “ ancient and
infinite,” for which Chemia was an unworthy name, re¬
mained in the height of his reverie and never came
down to earth. It was not to be expected that it should.
This being the case, we need not dwell seriously upon
some other anomalous situations created by collating his
statements, as — for example — that this Second Nature
from God and this Virgin Water is also, for inscrutable
reasons, either actually the “ fleshly and sensual ” fruit
of the Tree of Knowledge, or in close alliance thereto ;
for this is cc the subject of the Philosophical Medicine”2
and — if I read Vaughan’s thesis rightly — it is also the
Matter of the Stone in alchemy and hence the First
Matter of all things. The root of the fantasy rests
largely on arbitrary inreadings of Scripture, on deriva¬
tions from Kabalistic and Trismegistic writings, and on
commentaries of mediaeval occult philosophers. As to
that which he met with in the course of his chemical
operations and which he elevated into the position of
the First Matter of all things — we must be content to
leave, its identity an open question. It is true that his
unfinished and unprinted Aqua Vit^e was intended by

1 Aula Lucis, p. 337.

2 Anthroposophia Theomagica, p. 32.

xl

Introduction

its sub-title to “ dissect ” the Radical Humidity of
Nature, both mechanically and magically,1 “ by the
conduct of Fire and Ferment.” I have given in the
Appendix on this text a supposed process for extracting the
“viscous and spermatic humidity” from two substances
which are designated as Magnesia and Chalybs. It is,
however, pro opere secundoy while the presumable primary
extraction is made from four substances, according to
Aula Lucis.2 For whatever my speculation may be
worth — and under the circumstances it can be little, and
much less than tentative — I tend to think that the Oil
of Halcali — mentioned in Memoria IV of the personal
notes given in the same Appendix — may have been
Vaughan’s Sacramental Name for his First Matter.3 He
says (i) that he found it by accident; (2) that he forgot
how ; (3) that he made a hundred vain attempts to
recover it ; (4) that it came back to his mind during
his wife’s last illness ; (5) that he extracted it by the
former practice the day after her death ; and (6) that
in this manner there was conferred upon him by God
“ the greatest joy I can ever have in this world after

1 Vaughan uses throughout the term Magic and its connections to
signify the art and science which lay behind the Secret Tradition
according to his hypothesis, and not in the vulgar sense which attaches
thereto in these modern days — not in the sense of the Grimoires and
debased Kabalism. In a word, his Magic is the old wisdom of adept-
ship and always connotes sanctity.

2 The processes which it is possible to follow in Aqua Vita: are of
no consequence to the direct purpose of alchemy and — as might be
expected — the rest are unintelligible. There is a note entitled De
Quatuor Menstruis Salinosis et Mineralibus , in which the first recipe
reads : Fit ex A natro dealbato sicut sets , estque Elixir Sails Universalis
et Arcatium Arcanoru?n. Elsewhere is a process for extracting Men¬
struum Universale , and this reads : Aqua?n ultimam de B. cohoba super
Soleni , ex spheera Solis, et fiat pro certo . The instruction respecting
Oleum Universale is after the same dark fashion : Recipe Saturnum
vegetabile ex Latio, vel ex Monticulis. Distille in cineribus, et separa
aquam ab oleo. Oleum rectifica per se, et extrahe odores et quintessentias
ex aromatibus et fioribus quibuscunque.

3 The Oil of Halcali enters into the composition of other substances
described in the manuscript. A considerable part of his experiments
were made in conjunction with his wife, and her name is connected with
them, e.g. Aqua Rebecca .

xli

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

her death.”1 I do not believe that he would have
spoken of any other supposed subject in these terms of
zeal. This is as far as we can expect to carry the
question, which is one of curiosity only, for it cannot
in reality signify what substance Vaughan may have
mistaken for the First Matter.

The Memorise Sacr^e are not only of great interest as
autobiographical notes but they are of importance as
illustrating the fact that he was an ambitious student at
work in the dark unaided, owing nothing to ordinary
instructors and nothing to a school of initiation. It is
necessary to establish the latter point, because we have seen
that he has been represented as the head of the Rosicrucian
Society in his day and generation. As to this he says
expressly in his Preface to the Fama et Confessio (i)
that he has no relation to the Fraternity, “neither do I
much desire their acquaintance”;2 (2) if he had any
familiarity with their persons and knew their habitation,
he would exercise discretion in his words concerning
either ; 3 (3) in a detached way he confesses that he is
of their faith 4 and is hence concerned in their defence as
much as in his own. Here is a settlement of the question
in a distinct negative on .the point at issue. There is,
however, another point, for it has to be recognised that
in Aula Lucis Vaughan claims to have acted by authority
from Unknown Superiors. They would not be of the
Rosicrucian Order, but this was not of necessity the
only school of initiation current at the period in Europe,
or even in England. Having informed his “ best and
noblest friend” in the dedication that he is presenting
the fruits of his own “inclinations,” and having told his
readers in the preface that he is contributing a rejected
stone to a philosophical fabric, he proposes in the text
itself to “discourse of light,”5 which he does on his

1 See Appendix I, p. 446.

2 The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, p. 347.

8 Ibid., p. 348. 4 Ibid., p. 374. 6 Aula Lucis, p. 315.

xlii

Introduction

personal authority, in an accustomed manner throughout.
But at the end of all he makes two curious statements :
(i) that his communication has been made owing to a
command from superiors,1 and (2) that “ the same
authorities recalled their commission.” 2 What kind of
superiors would have been likely to act in this manner
and how that which was written by their licence could
be issued in defiance of its withdrawal I do not pretend
to say ; but I regard the claim itself as part of a regret¬
table buffoonery which characterises the presentation of
the work. It is published by S. N., being the terminal
letters of the names Thomas Vaughan, the attempted veil
of identity serving no other purpose than to present
Eugenius Philalethes — his alter ego — as a person of so
much consideration that he deserves to be cited twice :
(1) “ I speak this because I pity the distractions of our
modern alchemists, though Philalethes laughs in his sleeve
and, like a young colt, kicks at that name”;3 (2) “But
had my young friend Eugenius Philalethes been present
he had laughed without mercy.”4 Vaughan’s sense of
the fitness prevented him going further, but it was much
too far for his native sincerity and real earnestness of
mind. It is this unsatisfactory text, and this only, which
makes the pretence under notice, but also recalls it — the
latter, as I believe, for conscience sake ; and it seems to
me part of the sorry comedy.

The concealment practised throughout the texts, ridicu¬
lous as it often is, has another motive, in my view. Vaughan
believed himself to have discovered the Great Secret, not
only of the First Matter but of the Vessel of Hermes.6
He calls these attainments the fruit of his own experience,
and in the latest of all his publications affirms that he has
wrung the mystery “ out of the earth ” and had no one
to instruct him.6 But he remembered the judgment
threatened by Raymund Lully and that the real Secret

1 Aula Lucis, p. 335. 2 Ibid., p. 336. 3 Ibid., p. 326.

4 Ibid., pp. 327, 328. 6 Ibid., p. 337. 0 Euphrates, p. 386.

xliii

The IV orks of Thomas V aughan

of the Art had never been published. He held himself
bound therefore in honour, as if he had been covenanted
in a high Grade of Adeptship. He might have said with
Eliphas Levi : “ Albeit I have received initiation from
God and my toil alone, I hold that I am pledged more
deeply by my convictions than by an oath. Knowledge
is a responsibility which compels, and I will not render
myself in any wise unworthy of that Princely Crown of
the Rosy Cross.” He did not therefore name openly the
certain substance which he understood as the First Matter,
that Vessel like unto ua little simple shell,”1 or the Glass
of his mystery. When he compares the radiant body of
adeptship to the shining face of Moses descending from
Horeb,2 he feels that he has u touched the veil ” and must
draw back. When he proposes to discover the means
“ how and by which this Art works upon the subject,” he
remembers that herein are Keys of the whole Mystery
and he must therefore “ scatter them in several parts of
the discourse,” by which process they are lost.3 Above
all, he “ must not speak one syllable ” concerning the
Kabalistic Mors Osculi } The reason perhaps in his mind
is that which is given respecting the Secret of the Fire,
which £< in itself is not great but the consequences of it
are so.” 5

We have now reached a point beyond which it seems
unnecessary to proceed further in the examination of
Vaughan’s texts, as they appear to a student on the
surface ; but a question arises as to whether it is possible
to look at his matter of debate from another standpoint.
Those who have checked my citations by reference to
the tracts themselves will see that his spiritual intimations
are sometimes confused quite curiously — as I have said —
with his cosmical reveries. An alleged process of separa¬
tion performed upon natural bodies brings us to “ the

1 Ccelum Terr^e, p. 219.

2 Anthroposophia Theomagica, p. 26.

3 CCEI UM TERR^E, p. 192. 4 MAGIA ADAMICA, p. IJQ.

6 Ccelum Terr,e, p. 223.

xliv

Introduction

Secret Light of God,” unveils “ the Hidden Intelligence ”
and manifests “ the Inexpressible Face.” 1 He pretends
to pass from “ the principles of our chaos,” or First
Matter, to the alleged use thereof,2 but begins immedi¬
ately to speak of regeneration, the mystery of the Word
made flesh and “ the Rest of God into which the creature
should enter.” 3 So also when he treats of the Medicine
he says that it is Heaven itself and that it is the Divine
Spirit which renders the body glorified.4 These are not
physical operations. So also — as we have just seen — his
concealment is practised not only in respect of physics,
and that which ex hypothesi is covered by the general
concern of alchemy, but also on such a purely mystical
subject as the state of figurative death and the Kabalistic
Kiss of Shekinah — that adhcesio Spiritus cum spiritu which
adumbrates Divine Union. If Vaughan had known it
in any of its earthly degrees, he might have said more
frankly that no real intimation concerning it could be
conveyed in words. We know also that Vaughan’s ascent
to “ the Supernatural Still Voice ” 6 and to the invisible —
meaning the Divine — elements of the soul constitutes
by his express definition “ the Christian Philosopher’s
Stone.” 6 Is it possible that a Key like this will open
his whole storehouse, even that place in the hiddenness
of man’s own intention, where the soul is washed by
fire, till a change is effected in the whole substance of
her motive ? Is there any reason for thinking that the
physical symbolism veils a spiritual consideration in the
sense that the Sepher Ha Zohar explains the account
of creation in Genesis as the story of election in Israel ?
The direct answer can only be couched in the negative,
but I do think that the Spiritual and Christian Key
opens a kind of entrance into the mental attitude of
Vaughan, who says also that “the gold and silver of

1 Lumen de Lumine, p. 299. 2 Ibid p. 301.

3 Ibid., p. 302. 4 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. no.

5 Ibid., p. 1 1 2. 6 Ibid., p. 112.

xlv

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

the philosophers are a soul and spirit.” 1 His Medicine
is that actually which he claims for it in one place, a
“Spiritual Substance”;2 his Stone — as I have said
elsewhere — “ is the touchstone which transmutes every¬
thing.”3 But we shall see if we follow his text carefully
that what is true, according to his thesis, of the inward
world is true also by analogy of that which is without
and operates physically in every department of Nature.
It follows that the Ferment, Tincture or Medicine which
is the Life of life in man — the seed of regeneration, the
growth of grace from God, bringing to the end in Him
— is sacramentally * in most intimate analogy, and for
Vaughan in a state of identity, with the Transmuting
Ferment of Metals, so that, notwithstanding the “narrow
name of Chemia ” and the derision of Lapis Chemicus ,4
there was a literal art of alchemy and a gold made by
art which would “ pass the test royal without any
diminution.” 6

And this seems to answer the whole question at issue,
my proposition concerning which is that Vaughan’s specula¬
tions on the natural world and its phenomena were not
a talk about one region of things as a veil of another,
but of two on the same basis and in the same terms of
symbolism, as the spirit moved him concerning them.
It moved him much more frequently on the physical
side, and yet this was really subordinate, for he was
rooted deeply on the spiritual side and he looked at
Nature sub specie atemitatis . He really knew that species
in the intellectual sense and I think also with the open
heart of the poet, which is always in kinship with and
does join at times in the flight of the soul to God.

I hold no brief for any thesis that his glass of vision
was undimmed in Divine things ; it would be scarcely

1 Lumen de Lumine, p. 303. 2 Ibid.

3 See the Introduction to my edition of Lumen de Lumine, published

in 1910, p. xix.

4 Lumen de Lumine, p. 303. 6 Ibid., p. 304.

xlvi

Introduction

possible amidst so many trivialities of sentiments. On
the physical side I have made my views clear regarding
his claims, and they are shewn forth much more plainly
by the evidence of his texts themselves. But I have
indicated here what seems to me a reasonable and intel¬
ligible canon of criticism on both sides concerning them,
and to extend it further would cover for a second time
the field occupied by my Introduction to Lumen de
Lumine, when I edited this tract separately in 1910.1
There are a few points only which call to be drawn
together before I reach my conclusion. (1) When
Vaughan says that there is a twofold fermentation,
spiritual and bodily,2 he is to be understood primarily
in the sense of what he affirms elsewhere about light.
(2) Fermentation multiplies the tinctures,3 but that which
alone can be multiplied is that which he terms light,4 and
this is the perfect medicine of all bodies, exalting and
perfecting each after its own kind. (3) The bodily
tincture was by the hypothesis much easier of attainment
than that which he calls elsewhere “ the perfect Medicine.” 5
(4) Finally, when Vaughan describes the First Matter as
if it were an arbiter of fortune,6 he seems to be speaking
— on the spiritual side — of that “ seraphic ” estate of soul
which has been mentioned already 7 in connection with
the Christian Philosopher’s Stone, but of this taken
together with the material recompense of the Stone

1 Published by Mr John M. Watkins, 21 Cecil Court, Charing Cross
Road. See, among other places, p. xxxvi, in which it is pointed out
that Vaughan is not discoursing of spiritual mysteries under a veil of
physics. He did occasionally borrow the language of alchemy to speak
of the soul’s transmutation, and he spoke of things physical in terms
which could be applied to processes working within the soul. The
results are baffling; but had he wished to justify himself, the Hermetic
doctrine of correspondence was ready to his hand. It does not actually
justify, because the more intimately things are connected by a law of
analogy the more clearly they must be distinguished in ordered pro¬
cesses of thought.

2 Lumen de Lumine, p. 303. 3 Ibid., p. 303.

4 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 95. 6 Ibid., p. 109.

0 Magia Adamica. p 12 7.

7 Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 115.

xlvii

The Iff orks of Thomas Vi aughan

applied to metals.1 The analogy is of no moment,

though it obtains of course hypothetically.

We are now in a position to see after what manner and
to what extent Thomas Vaughan is to be included among
spiritual alchemists. The preparation of this edition,
which is to all intents and purposes that of his complete
works, has meant a very close study of every sentence
and a particular reconsideration of my earlier findings
concerning him. I do not think that my position has
altered in any important sense. I regarded him then as
one for whom “the true subject of philosophy is the man
within,”2 and as acquainted in one or another sense with
“ the mystery of a grace above all grace made known in
the heart.” 3 But I may have thought in the first instance
that he owed more to direct mystical experience than
seems probable now in the general light of his record.
Still, from time to time he must have stood upon the
sacred threshold ; and if readers with the right dedica¬
tions, and with the help of such clues as I have given,
will thread their way through his cryptic labyrinth, I
believe that they will find him that which he desired to
be — a finger-post indicating the true path to those under¬
taking the journey.

A. E. WAITE.

1 Lumen de Lumine, pp. 303, 304.

2 See my Introduction to Lumen de Lumine, p. xxxix, 1910.

3 Ibid., p. xl.

xlviii

CONTENTS

PAGE

Foreword by the Library Committee v

Biographical Preface ... . . vii

Introduction : Lights and Shadows of Mystical

Doctrine in the Works of Thomas Vaughan xxv

Anthroposophia Theomagica: A Discourse of the

Nature of Man and his State after Death i

Original Dedication to the Brethren of the Rosy

Cross . . . . , . . , 3

The Author to the Reader ..... 5

Text of the Work, being a Study of Man' in the

Light of Divine Wisdom . . . .10

An Advertisement to the Reader . . . 61

Anima Magica Abscondita : A Discourse of the

Universal Spirit of Nature . . .63

Original Address to the Reader . . . .65

Text of the Work, being Reflections on the Wisdom

of the Secret Spirit . . . . .72

Magia Adamica : The Antiquity of Magic . . 119

Original Dedication to Mr Thomas Henshaw . . 121

Original Address to the Reader . . . .124

Text of the Work, being a Consideration on the

Secret Tradition of Primeval Magic . .132

xlix d

%

The W orks of Thomas V aughan

PAGE

Coelum Terr.® : The Magician’s .Heavenly Chaos,

UNFOLDING A DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE TER¬
RESTRIAL Heaven . . , . . .189

An Epilogue to Ccelum Terr.® .... 234

Lumen de Lumine : A New Magical Light . . 237

Original Dedication to the Most Famous University

of Oxford . . . . . . . 239

Original Address to the Reader .... 240

Text of the Work, being a Tract concerning Light

from the Fount of Light .... 243

Aula Lucis : The House of Light .

Original Dedication to Seleucus Abantiades
Original Address to the Reader
Text of the Work concerning the Gate of Light
A Postscript to the Reader ....

3°9

31 1
3*3
3J5
336

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross
A Preface to the Reader .

1 ext of the Work, being an Introduction to the
Fame and Confession of the Fraternity of R.C.
A Short Advertisement to the Reader

339

34i

343

377

Euphrates : The Waters of the East .

Original Address to the Reader .

F he I ext of the Work, being a Discourse on the
Secret Fountain ......

A Short Appendix by way of Admonition to the
Reader

383

385

388

437

1

Contents

APPENDICES

PAGB

I. Aqua Vitae non Vitis : A Note-Book of Thomas

Vaughan ....... 443

II. Thalia Rediviva : The Latin Poems of Thomas

Vaughan . . . . . . .453

III. Thomas Vaughan and Henry More, the Platonist . 468

IV. English Metrical Remains ..... 474

V. Address to Thomas Bodley ..... 478

VI. Commendatory Verses ..... 479

VII. The Latin Letter from the Brothers of R.C. . 483

VIII. Aphorismi Magici Eugeniani .... 486

IX. Bibliography . . . . . . .488

Index ......... 494

li

ANTHROPOSOPHIA THEOMAGICA

OR A DISCOURSE OF THE NATURE OF MAN
AND HIS STATE AFTER DEATH

To the Most Illustrious and Truly
Regenerated Brethren R. C.

Elders of Election

And Peaceable Apostles of the Church in this

Storm- driven Age,

Salutation from the Centre of Peace

Seeing that the freedom of the High Altar is granted
to the High Priest alone, not without sacrilege may this
overdaring offering seem to be thrust upon you. Even
devotion hath its limits. Those who approach unbidden
may be charged with presumption rather than loyalty, and
such as those were satirised in that old gigantomachia of
the poets which sought to take heaven by storm. Nor
are fatuous and befogged sparklings wanting in our own
day who deem that they are stars and are thought equal
to the sun. May such arrogance and climax of ambition
be far from Eugenius. It were surely to pile Pelion upon
Ossa. Most noble Brethren, I stand in the Court of the
Temple, nor is my offering placed on the altar but laid
in modesty at the threshold. Should my tribute be
demanded, I wish to offer you such gifts as ages and
generations to come may liken to the Arpine scrolls. Do
not deem that I despair. Peradventure in days remote
there shall rise up those who will prize this my torchlet
even as Tuscan suns. And indeed I am an associate of
Cicero, since our office aspires to the same everlasting
renown. I have roamed like the bees- — not those of
Quintilian in a poisoned field — tasting celestial flowers,
which draw their sweetness from the hills of spices. If
here there be aught of honey, I set before you this honey-

3

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

comb and beehive. But roses are commonly soiled on
the breasts of many : perchance also this handful is
stained, for it is of my gathering. Be it granted that
the errors are of Eugenius : the rest is of truth. Yet
what profits this witness to the truth for you upright ones,
who behold in open day the threefold record of the Spirit,
the Water and the Blood ? No voice of help is this, but
needless rather. Wise is he who keeps silence in the sight
of heaven. Receive therefore, most illustrious Brethren,
this my mite, not as that which I would bring you but as
all that I have. My goodwill is in my willing service.
My poverty prays further : regard not the gift itself but
the obedience of

Your Suppliant,

Eugenius Philalethes.

Oxford, 1648.

4

THE AUTHOR TO THE READER

I look on this life as the progress of an essence royal :
the soul but quits her court to see the country. Heaven
hath in it a scene of earth, and had she been contented
with ideas she had not travelled beyond the map. But
excellent patterns commend their mimes : Nature that
was so fair in the type could not be a slut in the anaglyph.
This makes her ramble hither, to examine the medal by
the flask ; but whiles she scans their symmetry she forms
it. Thus her descent speaks her original. God in love
with His own beauty frames a glass, to view it by reflec¬
tion. But the frailty of the matter excluding eternity,
the composure was subject to dissolution. Ignorance
gave this release the name of death, but properly it is the
soul’s birth and a charter that makes for her liberty. She
hath several ways to break up house, but her best is
without a disease. This is her mystical walk, an exit
only to return. When she takes air at this door, it is
without prejudice to her tenement.1

1 At the beginning of his literary life Thomas Vaughan was influenced
deeply by the works of Cornelius Agrippa and especially by The Three
Books of Occult Philosophy. He drew much from this source, as
my annotations are designed to shew ; but the matter of Agrippa suffers
a certain transmutation in the alembic of his own mind. The allusion in
the text above is to the well-known mystical state of figurative death
which is the threshold of union. My introductory study deals with this
subject. The psychic substitutes are many, within and without those
states which belong to pathology. There are also intellectual modes
which are very important aft^r their own manner. Cornelius Agrippa
mentions, on the authority of Cicero, a “ sovereign grade of contemplative
perfection ” wherein the soul knows all things in the light of ideas. — De
Occulta Philosophia, Lib. iii, c. 50. He speaks also in the language
of Plato and the successors of “ascending to the intellectual life ” and so
attaining “the first unity.” — Ibid., iii, 55. It will be seen that this is

realisation in mind; but the true attainment is in love.

• •

5

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

The magicians tell me that the soul passes out of one
mode and enters another.1 Some have examined this
and state it an expense of influences, as if the soul
exercised her royalty at the eye or had some blind juris¬
diction at the pores. But this is to measure magical
positions by the slight, superficial strictures of the common
philosophy. It is an age of intellectual slaveries : if they
meet anything extraordinary, they prune it commonly
with distinctions or daub it with false glosses, till it looks
like the traditions of Aristotle. His followers are so
confident of his principles they seek not to understand
what others speak but to make others speak what they
understand. It is in Nature as it is in religion : we are
still hammering of old elements but seek not the America
that lies beyond them. The apostle tells us of leaving
the first principles of the Doctrine of Christ and going
on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of re¬
pentance from dead works ; and of faith towards God ;
of the doctrine of Baptism and laying on of hands ; of
resurrection and the eternal judgment. Then he speaks
of illumination, of tasting of the heavenly gift, of being
partakers of the Holy Ghost, of tasting of the good word
of God and the powers of the world to come.2 Now, if
I should question any sect — for there is no communion
in Christendom — whither these later intimations drive,
they can but return me to the first rudiments or produce
some empty pretence of spirit. Our natural philosophers
are much of a cast with those that step into the pre¬
rogative of prophets and antedate events in configura-*
tions and motions. This is a consequence of as much
reason as if I saw the Swede exercising and would find
his designs in his postures. Friar Bacon walked in
Oxford between two steeples, but he that would have

1 Anima unius entis egreditur et aliud ingreditur. One of the
Conclusiones KabalistiCjE of Picus in the larger codex, published by
Archangelus de Burgo Nuovo in Apologia fro Defe?isione Doctrine?
Cabalce , [ 564.

2 See Hebrews, vi, 1-5.

6

Anthroposophia Theomagica

t

discovered his thoughts by his steps had been more his
fool than his fellow.1

The Peripatetics when they define the soul, or some
inferior principle, describe it only by outward circum¬
stances, which every child can do ; but they state nothing
essentially. Thus they dwell altogether in the face ;
their endeavours are mere titillations ; and their acquaint¬
ance with Nature is not at the heart. Notwithstanding,
I acknowledge the schoolmen ingenious : they conceive
their principles irregular and prescribe rules for method,
though they want matter. Their philosophy is like a
church that is all discipline and no doctrine ; for bate
me their prolegomena, their form of arguing, their recit¬
ing of different opinions, with several other digressions,
and the substance of these Tostati2 will scarce amount to
a Mercury. Besides their Aristotle is a poet in text ; his
principles are but fancies, and they stand more on our
concessions than his bottom. Hence it is that his followers
— notwithstanding the assistance of so many ages — can
fetch nothing out of him but notions ; and these indeed
they use, as he saith Lycophron 3 did his epithets, not as
spices but as food.4 Their compositions are a mere
tympany of terms. It is better than a fight in Quixote
to observe what duels and digladiations they have about
him. One will make him speak sense, another nonsense
and a third both. Aquinas palps him gently,5 Scotus

1 Though he speaks of Roger Bacon, Vaughan's marginal reference
is to Sylva Sylvarum, being the “natural history" of Francis, Lord
Verulam, who has some remarks on “ exercise of the body ” at the close
of Century III of the work in question.

2 The word tostatus signifies toasted in low Latin.

3 Lycophron was a Greek poet and dramatist under Ptolemy Phila-
delphus, and was noted for excessive obscurity.

4 Non ut condunentis , sed ut cibus. See Aristotle’s Rhetoric.

5 It is not to be supposed that St Thomas Aquinas was in unconditional
agreement with Aristotle or any other of the “ ethnic philosophers,” but
Aristotle was no less as an intellectual piaster, not only for the great
Angel of the Schools but for all the schoolmen. When the time came
for a revolt against scholastic philosophy it was the yoke of the Stagyrite
which many thinkers desired to cast off. When Vaughan says that the
Peripatetics state nothing essentially on the soul and spiritual principles

7

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

makes him wince,1 and he is taught like an ape to shew
several tricks. If we look on his adversaries, the least
among them hath foiled him ; but Telesius2 knocked
him on the head and Campanella hath quite discomposed
him.8 But as that bold haunter of the circus had his
skull so steeled with use, it shivered all the tiles were
thrown at it, so this xAristotle thrives by scuffles and the
world cries him up when truth cries him down.

The Peripatetics look on God as they do on carpenters,
who build with stone and timber, without any infusion
of life. But the world — which is God’s building — is full
of spirit, quick and living. This spirit is the cause of
multiplication, of several perpetual productions of minerals,
vegetables and creatures engendered by putrefaction — all
which are manifest, infallible arguments of life. Besides,
the texture of the universe clearly discovers its animation.
The earth — which is the visible, natural basis of it —
represents the gross, carnal parts. The element of water
answers to the blood, for in it the pulse of the Great
World beats.: this most men call the flux and reflux, but
they know not the true cause of it. The air is the out¬
ward ’refreshing spirit, where this vast creature breathes
— though invisibly, yet not altogether insensibly. The
interstellar skies are his vital, ethereal waters and the
stars his animal, sensual fire.4 Thou wilt tell me perhaps :

he is voicing the sentiment of all who preceded him in the revolt, of all
who had got to know Plato and the Platonic successors. In a particular
way he was following the lead of occult philosophers, and his immediate
predecessor in England was Robert Fludd.

1 But if the reference is to Scotus Erigena we should remember that
he is praised by the Catholic exponent of Mysticism, J. Gorres, because he
married the dialectic of Plato to the logic of Aristotle. See ChriSTLICHE
Mystik, i, 243.

2 Bernardinus Telesius wrote I)E Rerum Natura, 1565, and a volume
of philosophical tracts. He died in 1588. His works were placed on the
Index because he opposed the doctrines of Aristotle — such at least is
the story.

3 Campanella was a Dominican monk, author of Civitas Solis, the
story of an ideal commonwealth. He defended Telesius and was long
years in prison.

4 Compare Agrippa, who maintains that as the celestial bodies- have a

8

Anthroposophia Theomagica

This is new philosophy, and that of Aristotle is old. It
is indeed, but in the same sense as religion is at Rome.
It is not the primitive truth of the creation, not the
ancient, real theosophy of the Hebrews and Egyptians,
but a certain preternatural upstart, a vomit of Aristotle,
which his followers — with so much diligence — lick up and
swallow. I present thee not here with any clamorous
opposition of their patron but a positive express of
principles as I find them in Nature. I may say of them
as Moses said of the FIAT : “ These are the generations
of the heavens and of the earth, in the day that the Lord
God made the earth and the heavens.”1 They are things
beyond reasoning2 — sensible, practical truths, not mere
vagaries and rambles of the brain. I would not have thee
look on my endeavours as a design of captivity. I intend
not the conquest but the exercise of thy reason, not that
thou shouldst swear allegiance to my dictates but compare
my conclusions with Nature and examine their corre¬
spondence. Be pleased to consider that obstinacy enslaves
the soul and clips the wings which God gave her for flight
and discovery. If thou wilt not quit thy Aristotle, let
not any prejudice hinder thy further search. Great is
their number who perhaps had attained to perfection, had
they not already thought themselves perfect. This is my
advice — but how welcome to thee I know not. If thou
wilt kick and fling, I shall say with the Cardinal : “ My
ass also kicks up his heels.”3 It is an age wherein truth
is near a miscarriage, and it is enough for me that I have
appeared thus far for it in a day of necessity.

Eugenius Philalethes.

manifest operation upon inferior things it must be held that they are
animated. “All philosophy affirms therefore that the world has a soul,
which soul is intelligent.” — De Occulta Philosophia, Lib. ii, c. 55.

1 Genesis, ii, 4.

2 Extra intellecturn. .

3 Etiam asinus meus recalcitrat.

9

ANTHROPOSOPHIA THEOMAGICA

When I found out this truth, that man in his original
was a branch planted in God and that there was a con¬
tinual influx from the stock to the scion, 1 was much
troubled at his corruptions and wondered his fruits were
not correspondent to his root. But when I was told he had
tasted of another tree my admiration was quickly off, it
being my chief care to reduce him to his first simplicity
and separate his mixtures of good and evil. But his Fall
had so bruised him in his best part that his soul had no
knowledge left to study him a cure. His punishment
presently followed his trespass : “ all things were hidden
and oblivion, the mother of ignorance, entered in.” 1
This Lethe remained not in his body but, passing together
with his nature, made his posterity her channel. Imper¬
fection’s an easy inheritance, but virtue seldom finds any
heirs. Man had at the first — and so have all souls before
their entrance into the body — an explicit methodical
knowledge ;2 but they are no sooner vested but that
liberty is lost and nothing remains but a vast, confused
notion of the creature. Thus had I only left a capacity
without power and a will to do that which was far enough
above me. In this perplexity I studied several arts and
rambled over all those inventions which the folly of

1 Velata sunt omnia, intravitque oblivio mater ignorantice. — Cornelius
Agrippa : De Vanitate Scientiarum.

2 Because, according to Vaughan’s intellectual master, the soul in the
mind of Platonism is (a) a divine light, (b) proceeding from God im¬
mediately, and (c) rational from the beginning. The “ explicit methodical
knowledge ” of the text above corresponds to Agrippa’s “ rational number.”
— De Occulta Philosophia, Lib. iii, c. 37.

IO

Anthroposophia Theomagica

man called sciences. But these endeavours suiting not
to my purpose, I quitted this book business and thought •
it a better course to study Nature than opinion. Here¬
upon I considered with myself that man was not the
primitive, immediate work of God, but the world out of
which he was made.1 And to regulate my studies in
point of method, I judged it convenient to examine his
principles first and not him. But the world in general
being too large for inquisition, I resolved to take part for
the whole and to give a guess at the frame by proportion.
To perfect this my essay I took to task the fruits of one
spring. Here I observed a great many vegetables, fresh
and beauteous in their time ; but when I looked back on
their original they were no such things as vegetables.
This observation I applied to the world and gained by
it this inference — that the world in the beginning was no
such thing as it is, but some other seed or matter out of
which that fabric which I now behold did arise. But
resting not here I drove my conclusion further. I con¬
ceived those seeds whereof vegetables did spring must be
something else at first than seeds, as having some pre¬
existent matter whereof they were made, but what that
matter should be I could not guess. Here was I forced
to leave off speculation and come up to experience.
Whiles I sought the world I went beyond it, and I was
now in quest of a substance which — without art — 1 could
not see. Nature wraps this most strangely in her very
bosom, neither doth she expose it to anything but her
own vital, celestial breath. Bujt in respect that God
Almighty is the only proper, immediate Agent which
actuates this Matter — as well in the work of generation
as formerly in His creation — it will not be amiss to speak

1 This is the notion of Agrippa, who quotes the authority of certain
divines, not otherwise mentioned, according to whom God is Creator in
chief of the whole world but not immediately of the body of man — meaning
the first man — in the composition of which He worked mediately through
the active offices of heavenly spirits. — De OCCULTA PHILOSOPHIA, Lib. i,
c. 61.

I I

■ The Works of Thomas Vaughan

something of Him, that we may know the Cause by His
creatures and the creatures by their Cause.

My God, my life, Whose essence man
Is no way fit to know or scan,

But should approach Thy court a guest
In thoughts more low than his request :

When I consider how I stray,

Methinks, ’tis pride in me to pray.

How dare I speak to Heaven, nor fear
In all my sins to court Thy ear ?

But as I look on moles that lurk
In blind entrenchments and there work
Their own dark prisons to repair,

Heaving the earth to take in air. —

So view my fetter’d soul, that must
Struggle with this her load of dust ;

Meet her address and add one ray
To this mew’d parcel of Thy day.

She would — though here imprison’d — see,

Through all her dirt, Thy throne and Thee.

Lord, guide her out of this sad night
And say once more : Let there be light.

It is God’s own positive truth. cc In the beginning ” —
that is, in that dead silence, in that horrible and empty
darkness when as yet nothing was fashioned — then — saith
the Lord — “ did I consider these things, and they all were
made through Me alone, and through none other : by
Me also they shall be ended, and by none other.” 1 That
meditation foreruns every solemn work is a thing so well
known to man that he needs no further demonstration of
it than his own practice. That there is also in God some¬
thing analogical to it, from whence man derived this
customary notion of his, as it is most agreeable to reason,
so withal is it very suitable to Providence. a The gods ”
— saith Iamblichus — “ did conceive the whole work

1 II Esdras, vi, i, 6. It will be noted throughout his works that
^Vaughan quotes texts like Esdras and the Wisdom of pseudo-Solomon
as if they were canonical.

12

Anthroposophia Theomagica

within themselves before it was brought forth by them.” 1
And the Spirit l here to Esdras : “ Then did 1 consider
these things.” He considered them first and made them
afterwards. God in His eternal idea foresaw that whereof
as yet there was no material copy. The goodness and
beauty of the one moved Him to create the other, and
truly the image of this prototype, being embosomed in the
second, made Him so much in love with His creature
that when sin had defaced it, He restored it by the suffer¬
ing of that pattern by which at first it was made.
Dionysius the Areopagite, who lived in the primitive
times,3 and received the Mysteries of Divinity immedi¬
ately from the Apostles, styles God the Father sometimes
“ the arcanum of Divinity,” 4 sometimes “ that hidden,
supersubstantial Being”;5 and elsewhere he compares
Him to a root whose flowers are the Second and Third
Persons.6 This is true, for God the Father is the basis
or supernatural foundation of His creatures ; God the
Son is the pattern, in Whose express image they were
made ; and God the Holy Ghost is the Creator Spirit,7 or
the Agent Who framed the creature in a just symmetry
to his Type. This consideration or Type God hath since
used in the performance of inferior works. Thus in the
institution of His temple He commands Moses to the

1 Dii concipiunt in se totum opus , ante quam parturiufit. — I AMBLICHUS.

2 It was in fact the angel Uriel discoursing with Esdras, but speaking on
this occasion in the person of the Almighty. See 1 1 Esdras, iv, i ; v, 15,31.

3 The historical position of the works put forward under the name of
Dionysius should have been known to Vaughan, at least by the argu¬
ments of Scaliger. Vaughan, however, was not a critical scholar and might
be characterised more to the purpose in a reverse sense. The tendency of
most recent opinion is perhaps to find a middle way between extreme
dates, but the suggestion that Dionysian texts belong to primitive times
is now found only among some apologists belonging to the Latin Church.
It is abandoned in Cardinal Mercier’s Manual of Modern Scholastic
Philosophy.

4 Arcanum Divinitatis.

5 Occultum illud supersubstantiale. See in particular De Divinis
Nominibus, cap. i.

0 Ibid., cap. ii, § 7. Quasi germina, fioresve ac lumina supersub-
stantialia.

7 Sbiritus Opifex : cf. Veni, Creator Spiritus.

J3

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

mount, where the Divine Spirit shews him the idea of
the future fabric. “ And let them make Me a sanctuary ;
that I may dwell among them. According to all that I
shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the
pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye
make it.” 1 Thus the Divine Mind doth instruct us
“ by setting forth ideas as by a kind of self-extension
beyond Itself,” 2 and sometimes more particularly in
dreams. To Nebuchadnezzar He presents a tree strong
and high, reaching to the heavens “ and the sight thereof
to the ends of all the earth..”3 To Pharaoh he shews
seven ears of corn. To Joseph He appears in sheaves
and then resembles the sun, moon and stars. To con¬
clude, He may express Himself by what He will, for in
Him are innumerable, eternal prototypes, and He is the
true fountain and treasure of forms.

But that we may come at last to the scope proposed :
God the Father is the Metaphysical, Supercelestial Sun ;
the Second Person is the Light ; and the Third is Fiery
Love,4 or a Divine Heat proceeding from both. Now,
without the presence of this Heat there is no reception of
the Light and by consequence no influx from the Father
of Lights. For this Love is the medium which unites
the Lover to that which is beloved, and probably ’tis the
Platonic’s “ Chief Daimon, Who doth unite us with the
Prefects of Spirits.” 8 I could speak much more of the
offices of this Loving Spirit, but these are “grand

1 Exodus, xxv, 8, 9.

2 Porrigendo ideas quadam extensione sui extra se.

3 Daniel, iv, 11.

4 Amor igneus. The Holy Spirit is regarded in orthodox theology as
the bond of love between the Father and the Son. So also in the inward
human trinity the desire part is the bond between mind and will. Finally,
in the great attainment love is the chain of union between the soul and
the Christ-Spirit.

5 Damon magnus qui conjungit nos spit ituum prafecturis. In this
conception of love as the bond of union between the worlds within and
without Thomas Vaughan suffers comparison for a moment with those
early English mystics Richard Rolle of Hampole and Dame Julian of
Norwich.

14

1

Anthroposophia 7 heomagica

mysteries of God and Nature ” 1 and require not our discus¬
sion so much as our reverence. Here also I might speak
of that Supernatural Generation whereof Trismegistus :
“ The Monad begetteth the Monad and doth reflect upon
itself its own fervour.” 2 But 1 leave this to the Almighty
God as His own essential, central mystery. It is my only
intention in this place to handle exterior actions, or the pro¬
cess of the Trinity from the centre to the circumference ;
and that I may the better do it you are to understand
that God — before His work of creation — was wrapped up
and contracted in Himself. In this state the Egyptians
style Him the Solitary Monad3 and the Kabalists Dark
Aleph ; 4 but when the decreed instant of creation came,
then appeared Bright Aleph,5 and the first emanation was
that of the Holy Ghost into the bosom of the matter.
Thus we read that “ darkness was upon the face of the
deep ” and “ the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.” 6 Here you are to observe that, notwithstanding
this process of the Third Person, yet was there no light,
but darkness on the face of the deep, illumination pro¬
perly being the office of the Second. Wherefore God
also, when the matter was prepared by Love for Light,
gives out His Fiat Lux , which was no creation — as most
think — but an emanation of the Word, in Whom was
life, and that life is the light of men. This is that light
whereof St John speaks, that it “ shineth in darkness ;
and the darkness comprehended it not.” 7 But lest I seem

1 Magnalia Dei et Natures.

2 M ortas gignit Monaden , et in se suum refiectit ardorem.

3 Monas solitaria. 4 Aleph tenebrosiun.

5 Aleph lucidum. The letter Aleph is, so to speak, the first path by
which the Divine passed into manifestation. It connects with Kether ,
the Supreme Crown, as this connects with Ain Soph, the fathomless abyss
of Godhead in the unmanifest state. Here is the sense in which God is
called Dark Aleph prior to creation. Bright Aleph is the first path which I
have mentioned, and it unites Kether with Chokmah, or Supernal Wisdom,
in the Sephirotic scheme. But Aleph is also the Doctrine, dark as to its
hidden meanings and bright as to its open sense. But the dark and the
light are both a mystery of love, and they are better described as light in
its concealment and revelation.

6 Genesis, i, 2. 7 St John, i, 5.

15

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

to be singular in this point I will give you more evidence.
Pymander informing Trismegistus in the work of creation
tells him the self-same thing. cc I am that Light, the
Mind, thy God, more ancient than the watery nature
which shone forth out of the shadow.” 1 And Georgius
Venetus in his book De Harmonia Mundi : “Whatso¬
ever liveth doth subsist by virtue of .its inward heat.
Thence that substance of heat, indifferently distributed
through the world, is held to contain within itself a vital
strength. Yea, Zoroaster witnesseth that all things were
made out of fire when he saith : all things were produced
from a single fire, from that fire, namely, which God, the
dweller in the fiery essence — as Plato hath it — did ordain
to appear in the substance of heaven and earth, at that
time created rude and formless, that it might assume life
and form. Hereupon the Fabricator did straightway give
forth the Sit Lux , for which a mendacious rendering hath
substituted Fiat Lux. For the Light is in no wise made
but is communicated and admitted to things heretofore
obscure, that they may be brightened and glorified in
their forms.”2

But to proceed : No sooner had the Divine Light
pierced the bosom of the matter but the idea or pattern
of the whole material world appeared in those primitive

1 Lumen illud Ego sum , Mens , Deus tuus aniiquiof quam natura
humida , quce ex umbra effulsit. — Mercurii Trismegisti Pimandras,
caput i. I do not know what Latin rendering was used by Vaughan in
this instance. It differs from that printed with the Greek text in Divinus
Pymander Hermetis Mercurii Trismegisti , cum commentariis R. P. F.
Hannibalis Rosseli, the Calabrian Minorite Friar — a mine of orthodox
theosophy in six tomes, folio.

2 Omne quod vivit , propter inclusum calorem vivit . Inde colligitur
caloris naturam vim habere in se vitalem , in mmido passim diffusam :
imo omnia ex igne facta esse testatur Zoroaster , dum ait : Om7iia sub
igne uno ge?iita sunt , igne quippe illo, quem Deus Ignece essentice
Habitator (ut Plato ait) inesse jussit materice coeli et terrce ja7ii creates,
rudi et informi: ut vitam preestaret et formam. Hinc illis productis
statim subintulit Opifex, Sit Lux— pro quo mendosa traductio habet Fiat
Lux. Non enim facta est Lux, sed rebus adhuc obscuris commwiicata et
insita, ut in suis formis clares et splendentes fierent. . . — There is no
trace of Georgius Venetus in any dictionary of biographical reference.

l6

Anthroposophia Theomagica

waters, like an image in a glass. By this pattern it was
that the Holy Ghost framed and modelled the universal
structure. This mystery or appearance of the idea is
excellently manifested in the magical analysis of bodies.
For he that knows how to imitate the proto-chemistry of
the Spirit, by separation of the principles wherein the life
is imprisoned, may see the impress of it experimentally
in the outward natural vestments.1 But lest you should
think this my invention and no practical truth I will give
you another man’s testimony. “ I ask ” — saith one —
“ what great philosophers would say if they saw the plant
born as in a moment in the glass vial, with its colours as
in life, if they saw it again die, again reborn, and this
daily, whensoever they please ? But the power to deceive
human senses is included, I believe, in the magical art
of demons.” They are the words of Dr Marci in his
Defensio Idearum Operatricium .2 But you are to be
admonished there is a twofold idea — Divine and natural.
The natural is a fiery, invisible, created spirit and properly
a mere enclosure or vestment of the true One.3 Hence
the Platonists called it “ the nimbus of descending
Divinity.” 4 Zoroaster and some other philosophers
think it is the Soul of the World ; but — by their leave —
they are mistaken. There is a wide difference betwixt
Soul and Spirit.5 But the idea I speak of here is the
true, primitive, exemplar one and a pure influence of

1 Vaughan’s quoted illustration looks wide of his proper meaning, and
there would seem to be singular confusion in his mode of expression.
Ex hypothesis the soul ascends to union with its prototype in Divine
attainment by a liberation from imprisoning principles.

2 Quid quceso dicerent hi tanti Philosophi si plantam quasi momento
nasci in vitreo vase viderent, cum suis ad vivum coloribus , et rursum
interire , et renasci , idque quoties , et quando luberet ? Credo Dcemonum
Arte et Magica inclusum dicerent illudere sensibus humanis. — I have
sought to identify this writer under all reasonable variations of the name
as given, but without success.

3 The word is used in the metaphysical sense of form.

4 Nimbus Numinis descendentis .

5 As between 'YvxTi = Anima and Ilj — Spiritus. Compare A?iima
and Animus , as used by some of the mystics.

W

2

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

the Almighty. This idea, before the coagulation of the
seminal principles to a gross outward fabric — which is
the end of generation — impresseth in the vital, ethereal
principles a model or pattern after which the body is
to be framed, and this is the first inward production or
draft of the creature. This is it which the Divine Spirit
intimates to us in that Scripture where He saith that
God created “ every plant of the field before it was in
the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew.” 1
But, notwithstanding this presence of the idea in the
Matter, yet the creation was not performed “ by the
projection of something from the essence of the idea,” 2
for it is God that comprehends His creature and not
the creature God.

Thus far have I handled this primitive supernatural
part of the creation. I must confess it is but short in
respect of that which may be spoken ; but I am confident
it is more than formerly hath been discovered, some
authors having not searched so deeply into the centre of
Nature and others not willing to publish such spiritual
mysteries.3 I am now come to the gross work or
mechanics of the Spirit, namely, the separation of several
substances from the same mass. But in the first place I
shall examine that limbus or huddle of matter wherein all
things were so strangely contained. It is the opinion of
some men, and those learned, that this sluggish, empty
rudiment of the creature was no created thing;. I must
confess the point is obscure as the thing itself and to
state it with sobriety — except a man were illuminated with
the same light that this chaos was at first — is altogether
impossible. For how can we judge of a nature different
from our own, whose species also was so remote from
anything now existent that it is impossible for fancy to
apprehend, much more for reason to define it ? If it be

Genesis, ii, 5. 2 Exiramittendo aliquid de essentia idece.

3 It must be said that there is nothing especially new in Vaughan’s
disquisition, which is a combination of Kabalistic and Platonic theosophy.

18

Anthroposophia Theomagica

created, I conceive it the effect of the Divine Imagina¬
tion, acting beyond itself in contemplation of that which
was to come and producing this passive darkness for a
subject to work upon in the circumference. Trismegistus,
having first expressed his vision of light, describes the
matter in its primitive state thus : “ And in a short time
after ” — he saith — “ the darkness was thrust downwards,
partly confused and dejected, and tortuously circumscribed,
so that I appeared to behold it transformed into a certain
humid substance and more agitated than words could
express, vomiting forth smoke as from fire and emitting
an inexpressible and lugubrious sound.” 1 Certainly these
tenebr ce he speaks of, or fuliginous spawn of Nature, were
the first created Matter, for that water we read of in
Genesis was a product or secondary substance.2 Here
also he seems to agree further with the Mosaical tradition.
For this “ smoke ” which ascended after the transmutation
can be nothing else but that darkness which was upon the
face of the deep.

But, to express the particular mode or way of the
creation, you are to understand that in the Matter there
was a horrible, confused qualm or stupefying spirit of
moisture, cold and darkness. In the opposite principle
of light there was heat and the effect of it — siccity. For
these two are no elemental qualities, as the Galenists and
my Peripatetics suppose. But they are — if I may say so
— the hands of the Divine Spirit, by which He did work
upon the Matter, applying every agent to his proper
patients. These two are active and masculine ; those of
moisture and cold are passive and feminine. Now, as
soon as the Holy Ghost and the Word — for it was not

1 Et paulo post tenebrce deorsum ferebantur , partim trepidandcs ac
tristes eftectce, tortuose terminates : ut imaginarer me vidisse commntatas
tenebras in humidam quandam naturam , ultra quam did potest agitatam ,
et velut ab igne fumum evomere, ac sonum aliquem edere inenunciabilem
et lugubrem. — Divinus Pymander,*^/. i.

2 This argument illustrates the folly of seeking to reconcile independent
cosmical speculations.

. l9

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

the one nor the other but both, “ the Formative Mind
conjoined with the Word,”1 as Trismegistus hath it: I
omit that speech, “ Let us make man,” which effectually
proves their union in the work — had applied themselves
to the Matter, there was extracted from the bosom of it
a thin, spiritual, celestial substance, which, receiving a
tincture of heat and light, proceeding from the Divine
Treasuries, became a pure, sincere, innoxious fire. Of
this the bodies of angels consist, as also the empyreal
heaven, where intellectual essences have their residence.
This was “the primeval marriage of God and Nature,” 2
the first and best of compositions. This extract — being
thus settled above and separated from the mass — retained
in it a vast portion of light and made the first day without
a sun. But the splendour of the Word expelling the
darkness downwards it became more settled and compact
towards the centre and made a horrible, thick night.
Thus God — as the Hebrew hath it — was between the
light and the darkness, for the Spirit remained still on
the face of the inferior portion, to extract more from it.
In the second separation was educed “ the nimble
atmosphere ” 3 — as Trismegistus calls it — a spirit not so
refined as the former but vital and in the next degree to
it. This was extracted in such abundance that it filled
all the space from the mass to the empyreal heaven, under
which it was condensed to a water, but of a different
constitution from the elemental ; and this is the body of
the interstellar sky. But my Peripatetics, following the
principles of Aristotle and Ptolemy, have imagined so

1 Mens opifex una cum Verbo. — Divinus Pymander, cap. i. Compare
cap. xv : Verbum absolution fcecundum opifex , cap. xii : Verbum mentis
imago ; and finally cap. iv : Universum mundum construxit Opifex
non manibus sed Veibo. According to the ZOHAR, Shekinah was the
architect of worlds, acting in virtue of the Word which God uttered in
creation, which Word was united to the Spirit. It is difficult, however, to
separate Shekinah from the Word of Kabalism. The Word is called
also the Son in Chokmah and Shekinah the Daughter in Binah. See my
Secret Doctrine in Israel, pp. 192, 64, 21 7, 300.

2 Primum Matrimonium Dei et Natures. 3 Aer agilis.

20

Anthroposophia Theomagica

many wheels there, with their final diminutive epicycles,
that they have turned that regular fabric to a rumbling,
confused labyrinth.

The inferior portion of this second extract from the
moon to the earth remained air still, partly to divide
the inferior and superior waters, but chiefly for the re-
spiration and nourishment of the creatures. This is
that which is properly called the firmament, as it is plain
out of Esdras : <c Upon the second day thou madest the
spirit of the firmament,” 1 for it is u the bond of all
Nature,” 2 and in the outward geometrical composure it
answers to “ the middle substance,” 3 for it is spread
through all things, hinders vacuity and keeps all the
parts of Nature in a firm, invincible union. This is
<£ the sieve of Nature,” 4 as one wittily calls it, a thing
appointed for most secret and mysterious offices ; but
we shall speak further of it when we come, to handle
the elements particularly. Nothing now remained but *
the two inferior principles — as we commonly call them
— earth and water. The earth was an impure, sul¬

phureous subsidence or caput mortuum of the creation.
The water also was phlegmatic, crude and raco , not so
vital as the former extractions. But the Divine Spirit,
to make His work perfect, moving also upon these,
imparted to them life and heat, and made 'them fit for
future productions. The earth was so overcast and

mantled with the water that no part thereof was to be
seen. But that it might be the more immediately ex¬
posed to the celestial influences which are the cause of
vegetation the Spirit orders a retreat of the waters, and
breaks up for them His u decreed plan ” and sets them
a bars and doors.” 5

The light^as yet was not confined, but — retaining its
vast flux and primitive liberty — equally possessed the

1 II Esdras, vi, 41. 2 Ligamentum totius Naturce.

3 Natura media. 4 Cribrum Naturce .

5 JOB., xxxviii, 10.

The TV orks of Thomas Vaughan

whole creature. On the fourth day it was collected to a
sun and taught to know his fountain. The darkness,
whence proceed the corruptions and consequently the
death of the creature, was imprisoned in the centre, but
breaks out still when the day gives it leave, and like a
baffled giant thrusts his head out of doors in the absence
of his adversary. Thus Nature is a Lady whose face is
beauteous but not without a black-bag. Howsoever,
when it shall please God more perfectly to refine His
creatures this tincture shall be expelled quite beyond
them,1 and then it will be an outward darkness — from
which, Good Lord, deliver us.

Thus have I given you a cursory and short express of
the creation in general. I shall now descend to a more
particular examination of Nature and especially her
inferior, elemental parts, through which man passeth
daily and from which he cannot be 'separated. I was
about to desist in this place, to prevent all future accla¬
mations ; for when a Peripatetic finds here but three —
nay, but two genuine — elements, earth and water — for
the air is something more — will he not cry out I have
committed sacrilege against Nature and stole the fire from
her altar ? This is noise indeed, but till they take coach
in a cloud and discover that idol they prefer next to the
moon, I am resolved to continue in my heresy. I am not
only of opinion but 1 am sure there is no such principle
in Nature. The fire which she useth is “ the physical and
incorporeal horizon, the bond of either world and the
sigil of the Holy Spirit.” 2 It is no chimera, commen-
titious quirck, like that of the schoolmen. I shall there¬
fore request my friends the Peripatetics to return their
fourth element to Aristotle, that he may present it to

1 Presumably at that period which is called in Zoharic Kabalism the
Day of Messiah, the Day of Eternal Peace and the Sabbath of Creation.

2 Horizon corporeotum et incorporeorum, nexus utriusqne mundi et
sigillutn Spiritus Sancti. Vaughan very often omits to mention the
writers from whom he quotes, and it is obviously impossible therefore to
identify his sources in such cases.

22

Anthroposophia Theomagica

Alexander the Great as the first part of a new world, for
there is no such thing in the old.

To proceed then : the earth — as you were told before
— being the subsidence or remains of that primitive mass
which God formed out of darkness, must needs be a
feculent, impure body ; for the extractions which the
Divine Spirit made were pure, oleous, ethereal substances,
but the crude, phlegmatic, indigested humours settled
like lees towards the centre. The earth is spongy, porous
and magnetical, of composition loose, the better to take
in the several influences of heat, rains and dews for the
nurture and conservation of her products. In her is
the principal residence of that matrix which attracts and
receives the sperm from the masculine part of the world.
She is Nature’s Etna : here Vulcan doth exercise himself,

• not that limping poetical one which halted after his fall,
but a pure, celestial, plastic fire. We have astronomy
here under our feet ; the stars are resident with us and
abundance of jewels and pentauras. She is the nurse and
receptacle of all things, for the superior natures engulf
themselves into her ; what she receives this age she dis¬
covers to the next and like a faithful treasurer conceals no
part of her account. Her proper, congenial quality is cold.

I am now to speak of the water. This is the first
element we read of in Scripture, the most ancient of
principles and the mother of all things amongst visibles.1
Without the mediation of this the earth can receive no
blessing at all, for moisture is the proper cause of mixture
and fusion. The water hath several complexions, accord¬
ing to the several parts of the creature. Here below,
and in the circumference of all things, it is volatile, crude
and raco. For this very cause Nature makes it no part of
her provision but she rectifies it first, exhaling it up with
her heat and then condensing it to rains and dews, in

1 Meaning the first principle which Vaughan is prepared to recognise
as such ; but the text of Genesis certifies the creation of heaven and earth
before water is mentioned. The earth postulated obviously and pre¬
supposed the water which covered it.

23

The Works of Thomas V aughan

which state she makes use of if for nourishment. Some¬
where it is interior, vital and celestial, exposed to the
Breath of the First Agent and stirred with spiritual,
eternal winds. In this condition it is Nature’s wanton
— fcemina satacissima , as one calls it. This is that Psyche
of Apuleius,1 and the fire of Nature is her Cupid. He
that hath seen them both in the same bed will confess
that love rules all. But to speak something of our
common elemental water : it is not altogether con¬
temptible. There are hidden treasures in it, but so
enchanted we cannot see them* — for all the chest is so
transparent. cc The congealed spirit of invisible water is
better than all the earth,” saith the noble and learned
Sendivogius.2 I do not advise the reader to take this
phlegm to task, as if he could extract a Venus from the
sea, but I wish him to study water, that he may know
the fire.

I have now handled the two elements and more I
cannot find. I know the Peripatetics pretend to four
and — with the help of their master’s quintessence — to a
fifth principle. I shall at leisure diminish their stock, but
the thing to be now spoken of is air. This is no element
but a certain miraculous hermaphrodite, the cement of
two worlds and a medley of extremes. It is Nature’s
commonplace, her index, where you may find all that
ever she did or intends to do. This is the world’s
panegyric ; the excursions of both globes meet here ; and
I may call it the rendezvous. In this are innumerable
magical forms of men and beasts, fish and fowl, trees,
herbs and all creeping things.3 This is “ the sea of

1 The onus probandi is on those who affirm or suggest, like Vaughan,
that the Legend of Cupid and Psyche has a cosmic meaning. Pernety
interpreted Psyche as signifying Mercurial Water and Cupid as igneous
fixed earth ; but these things are reveries.

2 Spiritus aqucB invisibilis congelatus tnelior est quam terra universa .
The actual quotation I have not found in NOVUM LUMEN CHEMICUM ;
but the Epilogue speaks of that water which does not wet the hands and
is more precious than anything in the world.

3 It is plain that the elements of Thomas Vaughan are not the putative

24

Anthroposophia Theomagica

invisible things ” ; 1 for all the conceptions cc in the bosom
of the higher Nature ” 2 wrap themselves in this tiffany
before they embark in ,the shell. It retains the species
of all things whatsoever and is the immediate receptacle
of spirits after dissolution, whence they pass to a superior
limbus.3 I should amaze the reader if I did relate the
several offices of this body, but it is the magician’s back
door and none but friends come in at it. I shall speak
nothing more, only this I would have you know : the air
is “ the body of life of our sensitive spirit,” 4 our animal
oil, the fuel of the vital, sensual fire, without which we
cannot subsist a minute.

I am now come to the fourth and last substance, the
highest in scala Nature. There is no fifth principle — no
quintessence as Aristotle dreamed — but God Almighty.
This fourth essence is a moist, silent fire. This fire
passeth through all things in the world and it is Nature’s
chariot. In this she rides ; when she moves this moves ;
and when she stands this stands, like the wheels in
Ezekiel, whose motion depended on that of the spirit.
This is the mask and screen of the Almighty : where¬
soever He is, this train of fire attends Him. Thus He
appears to Moses in the bush, but it was in fire. The
prophet sees Him break out at the North, but like a fire
catching itself.5 At Horeb He is attended with a mighty

elements of old physics* and this appears very plainly in other texts. His
air as a receptacle of forms recalls the Astral Light of Paracelsus and
fdiphas Ldvi, which answers to the memory of Nature.

1 Mare rerum invisibilium .

2 In sinu sup eri oris Natures.

3 The expression is not alchemical. The limbus of Nature is that
primeval matter which had not as yet been separated into the four
elements. — Pernety : Dictionnaire Mytho - Herm£tique. But
Rulandus, who claims to follow Paracelsus, calls limbus “the universal
world,” understood as composed of four elements. — Lexicon Alchemle.
Later on Vaughan speaks of a limbus of spirits, a sphere of pure fire under
the Throne of God.

4 Corpus vitce spiritus nostri sensitivi. — Agrippa.

6 Ezekiel, i, 4, according to a marginal reading of the Authorised
Version. The Vulgate gives ignis involvens , followed by the Authorised
Version in the text proper, which is “ fire infolding gives itself.”

25

The Works of Thomas V aughan

strong wind ; but after this comes the fire, and with it a
still small voice. Esdras also defines Him a God Whose
service is conversant in wind and fire. This fire is the
vestment of the Divine Majesty, His back-parts which
He shewed to Moses ; but His naked, royal essence none
can see and live. The glory of His presence would
swallow up the natural man and make him altogether
spiritual. Thus Moses his face — after conference with
Him — shines, and from this small tincture we may guess
at our future estate in the regeneration. But I have
touched the veil and must return to the outer court of
the Sanctuary.1

I have now in some measure performed that which at
first I promised — an exposition of the world and the parts
thereof. But in respect of my affection to truth and the
dominion I wish her, I shall be somewhat more particular
in the examination of Nature and proceed to a further
discovery of her riches. I advise the reader to be diligent
and curious in this subsequent part of the discourse, that
having once attained to the fundamentals of science he
may the better understand her superstructures. Know
then that every element is threefold, this triplicity being
the express image of their Author and a seal He hath
laid upon His creature. There is nothing on earth —
though never so simple, so vile and abject in the sight
of man — but it bears witness of God, even to that abstruse
mystery, His Unity and Trinity. Every compound
whatsoever is three in one and one in three. The basest
reptile even, in his outward symmetry, testifies of his
Author, his several proportions answering to their
eternal, superior Prototype.' Now, man hath the use
of all these creatures, God having furnished him with
a living library wherein to employ himself. But he,

1 As if Vaughan knew that the true Son of the Sun in the dream of
spiritual alchemy is man in the arch-natural, transfigured state, manifested
on Mount Tabor, a mystery of the Holy of Holies, in comparison with
which his occult physics and cosmological visions belong to the outer
court and the precincts.

26

Anthroposophia Theotnagica

*

neglecting the works of his Creator, prosecutes the
inventions of the creature, laps up the vomit of Aristotle
and other illiterate ethnics — men as concerning the faith
reprobate and in the law of Nature altogether unskilful,
scribbling, blasphemous atheists ; “ whose souls ” — as
Agrippa hath it — “ are torn and distracted by hearing and
behold the infernal gods.” 1 He is much troubled at those
Mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation ; one denies,
another grants them ; but if they did once see the light
of Nature they might find those Mysteries by reason
which are now above their faith.

When I speak of a natural triplicity, I speak not of
kitchen-stuff — those three pot-principles, water, oil and
earth. But I speak of celestial, hidden natures 2 known
only to absolute magicians, whose eyes are in the centre,
not in the circumference ; and in this sense every element
is threefold. For example, there is a threefold earth :
first, there is elementary earth, then there is celestial
earth, and lastly there is spiritual earth.3 The influences
of the spiritual earth, by mediation of the celestial, are
united to the terrestrial and are the true cause of life
and vegetation. These three are the fundamentals of
Art and Nature. The first is a visible, tangible substance ;
pure, fixed and incorruptible ; of quality cold but — by
application of a superior agent — dry ; and by consequence
a fit receptacle of moisture. This is the Created Aleph?
the true Adamic Earth 5 — the basis of every building in
heaven and earth. It answers to God the Father, being

1 Quorum ant mas distrahi et torqueri audiunt , videntque inferos.

2 The analogy in our natural humanity would be the mind, emotions and
will, of which also there is a celestial state — attained in the work of sanctity.

3 That is, Terra elementaris , Terra ccelestis and Terra Spiritualise
the last being Terra viventium.

4 Aleph creatum is presumably Aleph parvum, which is Malkuth = the
Kingdom or manifest world in its state of perfection, prior to the coming
of the Serpent. Aleph parvum is in analogy, among things seen, with
Aleph magnum in the hiddenness, which is K ether — the Crown.

6 Terra Adama , the sophic, spiritual earth, of which the first man was
made — according to the Zohar. Thereon also the Temple was built in
Zion. It is red, veined earth, after the manner of a pomegranate.

27

The IV irks of Thomas V 'lughan

the natural foundation of the creature, as He is the super¬
natural. Without this nothing can be perfected in magic.
The second principle is the infallible magnet, the Mystery
of Union. By this all things may be attracted, whether
physical or metaphysical — be the distance never so great.
This is Jacob’s Ladder : without this there is no ascent
or descent, either influential or personal.1 The absence
of this I conceive to be that gulf between Abraham and
Dives. This answers to God the Son, for it is that which
mediates between extremes, -and makes inferiors and
superiors communicate. But there is not one in ten
thousand knows either the substance or the use of this
nature. The third principle is properly no principle : it
is not <c from which ” but “ by which all things are.” 2
This can do all in all, and the faculties thereof are not
to be expressed. It answers to the Holy Ghost, for
amongst naturals it is the only agent and artificer.

Now, he that knows these three perfectly, with their
several gradations or annexed links, which differ not in
substance but complexion ; he that can reduce their
impurities to one sincere consistence and their multi¬
plicities to a spiritual, essential simplicity ; he is an
absolute, complete magician and in full possibility to all
strange, miraculous performances. In the second place,
you are to learn that every element is twofold. This
duplicity or confusion is that Binarius whereof Agrippa
In S calls Numerorum ,s as also both himself and Trithemius
in their Epistles.4 Other authors who dealt in this science

1 The ascent of the Tree of Life in Kabalism and the descent of grace
thereby. It is said that Israel ascended in thought to Chokmah = Wisdom.

2 Non ex quo , sed per quod omnia.

3 According to Agrippa, the number two is a figure of charity, mutual
love and marriage. It is in correspondence with the Divine Name Yah
=n*, which represents the union of Jehovah and Elohim, or God and His
Shekinah. But it is also a number of confusion, discord and uncleanness,
and of the admixture of good and evil.

4 See note on p. 68 regarding the correspondence of Cornelius Agrippa.
Certain letters which passed between Agrippa and Trithemius on the
subject of De Occulta Philosophia are prefixed to that work, but they
are respectively dedication and panegyric.

28

Anthroposophia Theomagica

were pragmatical scribblers and understood not this Secret
of the Shades.1 This is it in which the creature prevari¬
cates and falls from his first harmonical unity. You must
therefore subtract the duad 2 and then the magician’s
triad may be reduced “ by the tetrad into the very simple
monad,” and by consequence C£ into a metaphysical union
with the Supreme Monad.” 3

The sun and moon are two magical principles — the one
active, the other passive ; this masculine, that feminine.
As they move, so move the wheels of corruption and
generation. They mutually dissolve and compound ; but
properly the moon is u the instrument of the transmuta¬
tion of inferior matter.” 4 These two luminaries are
multiplied and fructify in every one particular generation.
There is not a compound in all Nature but hath in it a
little sun and a little moon. The little sun is son of the
Celestial Sun ; the little moon is daughter of the Celestial
Moon.5 What offices soever the two great luminaries
perform for the conservation of the great world in
general, these two little luminaries perform the like* for
the conservation of their small cask or microcosm in
particular. They are cc miniatures of the greater animal ” 6
— heaven and earth in a lesser character. God — like a
wise Architect — sits in the centre of all, repairs the ruins
of H is building, composeth all disorders and continues
His creature in his first primitive harmony. The invisible,
central moon is “ that well-watered and many fountained
moist principle ” 7 at whose top sit Jove and Juno in a
throne of gold.8 Juno is an incombustible, eternal oil
and therefore a fit receptacle of fire. This fire is her

1 Secretum Tenebrarum. 2 Subtrahere Binarinm.

3 In metaphysicam cum Suprema Monade unionem.

4 Organum transmutationis inferioris mate? ice.

5 Filius Solis coelestis ; Filia Lunce coelestis.

6 Mimulce May oris Animalis.

7 Iela ilia rivosa et multifontana. The translation- is speculative in
respect of the word Iela.

8 In Christian mystical symbolism the soul is a moon shining in the
light of that Sun which is the Christ-Spirit.

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Jove, the little sun we spoke of formerly. These are the
true principles of the Stone ; these are the philosopher’s
Sun and Moon- — not gold and silver, as some mounte¬
banks and carbonados would have it. But in respect I
have proceeded thus far, I will give you a receipt of the
Medicine. Ten parts of celestial slime. Separate the
male from the female, and then each from its earth,
naturally, however, and without violence. Conjoin after
separation in due, harmonic, vital proportion. The soul,
descending straightway from the pyroplastic sphere, shall
restore its dead and deserted body by a wonderful embrace.
The conjoined substances shall be warmed by a natural
fire in a perfect marriage of spirit and body. Proceed
according to the Vulcano-Magical Artifice till they are
exalted into the Fifth Metaphysical Rota. This is that
Medicine about which so many have scribbled but so few
have known.1

It is a strange thing to consider that there are in
Nature incorruptible, immortal principles. Our ordinary
kitchen fire — which in some measure is an enemy to all
compositions — notwithstanding doth not so much destroy
as purify some parts. This is clear out of the ashes of
vegetables ; for although their weaker, exterior elements
expire by violence of the fire yet their earth cannot be
destroyed but vitrified.2 The fusion and transparency of

1 I must confess to a feeling that this recipe is a jest or a kind of parody
on the ridiculous processes given by pretenders in alchemy. It is given
in Latin as follows : Rc. Limi coelesiis partes decern . Separetur masculus
a fcemina , itterque fo?'ro a terra sua , physice tamen et cit?'a omnem
violentiam . Separata proportione debit a, harmonica et vitali conjunge.
Statimque anima descendens a sphcerd pyroplastica mortuum suum et
relictum corpus amplexu mirifico restaurabit. Conjuncta foveantur igne
naturali in perfectum matrimonium spiritus et corporis. Procedas
artificio vulcanico - magic o quousque exaltentur in quintam rotam meta-
physicam. Hcec est ilia de qua tot scribillarunt , tarn pauci noyerunt ,
Medicina.

2 According to the Lexicon Alchemle of Rulandus, the process called
vitrification is “the burning of lime and cinders into transparent glass.”
But according to the Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique of Antoine
Pernety, it is that coction of the Alchemical Stone which brings it to the red
state. For the rest, it would appear that ashes are ashes and dust is dust.

3°

Anthroposophia Theomagica

this substance is occasioned by the radical moisture or
seminal water of the compound. This water resists the
fury of the fire and cannot possibly be vanquished. “ The
rose lieth hidden through the winter in this water ” —
saith the learned Severinus.1 These two principles are
never separated, for Nature proceeds not so far in her
dissolutions. When death hath done her worst there is
an union between these two and out of them shall God
raise us at the last day and restore us to a spiritual
constitution. Besides there remains in them that
primitive, universal tincture of the fire. This is still
busy after death, brings Nature again into play, pro-
duceth worms and other inferior generations. I do not
conceive there shall be a resurrection of every species, but
rather their terrestrial parts, together with the element of
water — for there shall be “ no more sea ” 2 — shall be
united in one mixture with the earth and fixed to a pure,
diaphanous substance. This is St John’s crystal gold,
a fundamental of the New Jerusalem, so called not in
respect of colour but constitution.3 Their spirits, 1
suppose, shall be reduced to their first limbus — a sphere
of pure ethereal fire, like rich eternal tapestry spread
under the Throne of God.

Thus, Reader, have I made a plenary but short in¬
quisition into the mysteries of Nature. It is more than
hitherto hath been discovered and therefore I expect the
more opposition. I know my reward is calumny ; but
he that hath already condemned the vanity of opinion is
not like to respect that of censure. I shall now put the
creatures to their just use and from this shallow con¬
templation ascend to mine and their Author.

1 In Jiac aqua rosa latet in hieme. — Marcus Aurelius Severinus wrote
Controversy de Ver/e Circuli Mensura, 1647, and Antiperi-
PATETICA — hoc est adversus Aristoteleos— Diatriba, 1659, besides
medical works.

2 Revelations, xxi, 1.

3 The text says: “Pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” — Ibid.,
xxi, 21.

3 1

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Lord God, this was a stone

As hard as any one

Thy laws in Nature framed.

’Tis now a springing well
And many drops can tell,

Since it by Art was framed.

My God, my heart is so ;

’Tis all of flint and no
Extract of tears will yield.

Dissolve it with Thy fire,

That something may aspire
And grow up in my field.

Bare tears I’ll not entreat,

But let Thy Spirit’s seat
Upon those waters be ;

Then I — new form’d with light —

Shall move without all night
Or eccentricity.

It is requisite now — if we follow that method which
God Himself is Author of — to examine the nature and
composition of man, having already described those
elements or principles whereof he was made and consists.
Man — if we look on his material parts — was taken out
of the great world, as woman was taken out of man. I
shall therefore — to avoid repetition — refer the reader to
the former part of this discourse, where — if things be
rightly understood — he cannot be ignorant in his material
frame and composure. We read in Genesis that God
made him out of the earth. This is a great mystery, for
it was not the common pot-clay but another and that of a
far better nature.1 He that knows this knows the subject
of the Philosophical Medicine,2 and by consequence what

1 See the Zoharic reference respecting Terra Adama in a previous note.

2 This is a clear issue at its value. The material elements of which man’s
body is formed are those by which that body can be preserved. We are
acquainted with those elements and we know also that they cannot be

32

Anthroposophia Theomagica

%

destroys or preserves the temperament of man. In this
are principles homogeneal with his life, such as can restore
his decays. and reduce his disorders to a harmony. They
that are ignorant in this point are not competent judges
of life and death, but quacks and piss-pot doctors. The
learned Arias Montanus calls this Matter “ the unique
particle of the multiplex earth.” 1 If these words be well
examined you may possibly find it out ; and so much for
his body. His soul is an essence not to be found in the
texture of the great world and therefore merely divine and
supernatural.2 Montanus calls it “ Wind of the Divine
Spirit and Breath of Divine Life.’,’ 3 He seems also to
make the creation of man a little incarnation, as if God in
this work had multiplied Himself. Adam — saith he —
received his soul u by an admirable and singular inspira¬
tion and fructification of God, if it be lawful so to call
it.” 4 St Luke also tells us the same thing, for he makes
Adam the son of God, not in respect of the exterior act
of creation but by way of descent.5 And this St Paul
confirms in the words of Aratus — -cc for we are also His
generation.” 6 The soul of man consists chiefly of two
portions, Ruah and Nephesh — inferior and superior. The
superior is masculine and eternal, the inferior feminine and

combined to form that kind of Philosophical Medicine to which Vaughan
alludes. It follows that he was writing speculatively and knew neither
the Supposed Medicine nor the physical constitution of man.

1 Multiplicis T'errce particula singularis. Benito Arias Montanus,
1527-98, was a Spanish antiquary and orientalist. In addition to a work
on Jewish antiquities, he wrote HUMANA Salutis Monumenta, 1571,

• and Historia Naturae, which does not seem to have appeared till 1601,
or three years after his death.

2 Vaughan’s view, as appears elsewhere, is that man became a “living
soul” by a gift of God, being the breathing of the Divine Spirit. The soul
of man is the Divine Spirit in flesh, and ultimately this Spirit “ returns to
God Who gave it.”

3 Divini Spiritus aura , et Vit<x DivincE halitus.

4 Ex admiranda singularique Dei inspirations, et ut sic loqui sit fas ,
fructifica tione .

6 “ The son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of
God.”— St Luke, iii, 38.

6 Acts, xvii, 28. The Authorised Version gives “offspring” in place
of “generation.”

33

ry

5

The Works of Thomas V aughan

mortal.1 In these two consists our spiritual generation.
“ As, however, in the rest of living things and also in man
himself, the conjunction of male and female tends towards
a fruit and propagation becoming the nature of each, so
in man himself that interior and secret association of male
and female, to wit the copulation of male and female soul,
is appointed for the production of fitting fruit of Divine
Life. And unto this does that secret blessing and
promised fecundity, that declared faculty and warning
refer : Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it : and have dominion.”2

Out of this and some former passages the understand¬
ing reader may learn that marriage is a comment on life,
a mere hieroglyphic or outward representation of our
inward vital composition.3 For life is nothing else but
an union of male and female principles, and he that
perfectly knows this secret knows the mysteries of
marriage — both spiritual and natural — and how he ought
to use a wife. Matrimony is no ordinary trivial business,
but in a moderate sense sacramental. It is a visible sign
of our invisible union to Christ,4 which St Paul calls a
great mystery ; and if the thing signified be so reverend
the signature is no ex tempore , contemptible agent. But
of this elsewhere. When God had thus finished His last
and most excellent creature He appointed his residence in
Eden, made him His viceroy and gave him a full juris-

1 The chief Kabalistic division is, however, triadic: Nephcsh — Life,
Rualh = Spirit and Mind = Neshamah, which is Soul of God.

2 Ut autem in costeris animantibus , atque eiiam in ipso honiine , mavis
ac fcemince conjunctio fructum propagationemque spectabat natures singu-
lorum dignam : ita m homine ipso ilia mavis ac fcemince interior
arcanaque societas, hoc est animi atque animes copulatio ad fructum vites
divines idoneum producendum comparabatur. Atque hue ilia arcana
bene die tio et foscunditas concessa , hue ilia declarata facultas et monitio
spectat : Crescite et multiplicamini,gt replete t err am, et subjicite illam, et
dominamini. — Arias Montanus.

3 Because that which is without is in analogy with that which is within,
and the crown of all that is within is the union of the soul and the Christ-
Spirit.

4 But as to this union St Paul said : “ I speak concerning Christ and
the Church.” — Ephesians, v, 32.

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Anthroposophia Theomagica

diction over all His works,1 — that as the whole man con¬
sisted of body and spirit so the inferior earthly creatures
might be subject to the one and the superior intellectual
essences might minister to the other. But this royalty
continued not long ; for presently upon his preferment
there was a faction in the heavenly court, and the angels
scorning to attend this piece of clay contrived how to
supplant him.2 The first in this plot was Lucifer :
Montanus tells me his name was Hilel. He casts about
to nullify that which God had enacted — that so at once
he might overreach Him and His creature. This policy
he imparts to some others of the hierarchy and strengthens
himself with conspirators. But there is no counsel against
God. The mischief is no sooner hatched but he and his
confederates are expelled from light to darkness. And
thus rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft : a witch is a rebel
in physics and a rebel is a witch in politics. The one acts
against Nature, the other against Order — the rule of it.
But both are in league with the devil, as the first father
of discord and sorcery.

Satan being thus ejected — as the condition of reprobates
is — became more hardened in his resolutions, and to bring
his malice about arrives by permission at Eden. Here he
makes woman his instrument to tempt man and overthrow
him by the same means that God made for an help to
him. Adam having thus transgressed the commandment
was exposed to the lash, and in him his posterity. But
here lies the knot : how can we possibly learn his disease
if we know not the immediate efficient of it ? If I
question our divines what the forbidden fruit was I may
be long enough without an answer. Search all the school-

1 With this reverie may be compared that of the Zohar, which says
that Adam was (i) crowned with celestial crowns, (2) given dominion over
the six directions of space, (3) beheld the supreme mysteries, and (4) knew
the glory of God.

2 The Zohar gives account of at least two discussions in the court of
heaven on the proposal to create man, one between God and His angels
of a certain class and another of Shekinah with the angels Aza and Azael.

35

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

men — from Ramus 1 to Peter Hispan 2 — and they have no
logic in the point. What shall we do in this case ? To
speak anything contrary to the sting of Aristotle — though
perhaps we hit the mark — is to expose ourselves to the
common hue. But in respect I prefer a private truth to
a public error 1 will proceed. And now, Reader, prick
up thine ears ;3 come on without prejudice, and I will tell
thee that which never hitherto hath been discovered.

That which I now write must needs appear very strange
and incredible to the common man,4 whose knowledge
sticks in the bark of allegories and mystical speeches,
never apprehending that which is signified by them unto
us. This, I say, must needs sound strange with such as
understand the Scriptures in the literal, plain sense, con¬
sidering not the scope and intention of the Divine Spirit,
by Whom they were first penned and delivered. How¬
soever, Origen — being unus de multis and in the judgment
of many wise men the most learned of the fathers — durst
never trust himself in this point, but always in those
Scriptures where his reason could not satisfy concluded
a mystery. Certainly if it be once granted — as some
stick not to affirm— that the Tree of Knowledge was a
vegetable and Eden a garden it may be very well inferred
that the Tree of Life — being described after the same
manner,5 as the schoolmen express it — was a vegetable
also. But how derogatory this is to the power of God,
to the merits and passion of Jesus Christ, Whose gift
eternal life is, let any indifferent Christian judge. Here
then we have a- certain entrance into Paradise, where we

1 Petrus Ramus — i.e., Pierre de la Ramee — 1 5 1 5—1572, represented
the reaction against scholastic philosophy. He wrote ARISTOTELICS
Animadversiones, 1543, I nstitutiones Dialectics, 1548, and other
treatises. In 1561 he embraced -Protestantism. There is a tract by
Milton on logic, based on the method of Ramus.

2 I find no record concerning this writer. 3 Arrige aures.

4 This is measurably true to-day and still more in the mid-seventeenth

century ; but yet there is nothing remote from theosophical learning now,
then or previously.

5 In eodem gen ere.

36

Anthroposophia Theomagica

may search out this Tree of Knowledge and haply learn
what it is. For seeing it must be granted that by the
Tree of Life is figured the Divine Spirit — for it is the
Spirit that quickeneth and shall one day translate us from
corruption to incorruption — it will be no indiscreet infer¬
ence on the contrary that by the Tree of Knowledge is
signified some sensual nature repugnant to the spiritual,
wherein our worldly, sinful affections — as lust, anger and
the rest — have their seat and predominate.

I will now digress a while, but not much from the
purpose, whereby it may appear unto the reader that the
letter is no sufficient expositor of Scripture and that there
is a great deal of difference between the sound and the sense
of the text. Dionysius the Areopagite in his Epistle to
Titus gives him this caveat : {<To know this is notwith¬
standing the crown of the work — that there is a twofold
tradition of theologians, the one secret and mystical,
the other evident and better known.” 1 And in his book
of The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy , written to Timotheus, he
affirms that in the primitive, apostolical times — wherein
he also lived — the Mysteries of Divinity were delivered
“ partly in written and partly in unwritten canons.” 2
Some things he confesseth were written in the theological
books, and such are the common doctrinals of the Church
now, in which notwithstanding — as St Peter saith — there
are many things hard to be understood.3 Some things
again “ were communicated from mind to mind between
the lines of the written word, but some which exceeded
carnal understanding were transmitted without writing.” 4
And certainly this oral tradition was the cause that in

1 Et hoc prceterea after ce ftretium est cognoscere , duftlicem esse theo-
logorum traditionem , arcanam alteram ac my Stic am, alteram veto
manifestam et notitiorem. — Epistola ix, Tito Episcopo. I do not know
what Latin translation was used by Vaughan, but it was not that of
Joannes Scotus.

2 Partim scrifttis, ftartim non scrifttis institutionibus.

3 II St Peter, iii, 16.

4 Ex aniino in animum medio quidem intercurrente verbo corftorali ,
sed quod carnis ftenitus ex ce derat sensum sine literis transfusa sunt.

37

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

the subsequent ages of the Church all the Mysteries of
Divinity were lost. Nay, this very day there is not one
amongst all our school doctors or late extemporaries that
knows what is represented unto us by the outward
element of water in baptism. True indeed they tell us
it betokens the washing away of sin, which we grant them,
but this is not the full signification for which it was
ordained. It hath been the common error of all times
to mistake signum for signatum , the shell for the kernel.
Yet to prevent this it was that Dionysius wrote his book
of The Celestial Hierarchy and especially his Theologia
Significativa ,x of which there is such frequent mention made
in his v/orks. Verily our Saviour Himself, Who is blessed
for evermore, did sometimes speak in parables and com¬
manded further that pearls should not be cast forth unto
swine, for “ it is not given to all men to know the
Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.”2 Supposing then
— as it is most true — that amongst other mystical speeches
contained in Scripture this of the Garden of Eden and
the Tree in it is one, I shall proceed to the exposition of
it in some measure, concealing ^the particulars not¬
withstanding.

Man in the beginning — I mean the substantial, inward
man — both in and after his creation, for some short time,
was a pure intellectual essence, free from all fleshly,
sensual affections. In this -state the anima or sensitive
nature 3 did not prevail over the spiritual, as it doth now
in us. For the superior mental part of man was united
to God by an essential contact4 and the Divine Light — •

1 That is, the Treatise on Mystical Theology.

2 St Matthew, vii, 6 ; ibid., xiii, n.

3 Meaning the Kabalistic Nefihesh , as noted previously.

4 The doctrine concerning the soul in Jewish theosophy is somewhat
confused by this statement. We have seen that Rua’h is really the mind
part and that Neshamah is the divine soul, but in this life it is not
normally in realisation of its own royalty. The progress of Neshamah in
Divine Knowledge is characterised by various names, as if there were
higher parts of the soul. But there is also Tsure , the prototype of the
individual soul in the Mind of God, an union with which is the highest
mystical state in Jewish theosophy.

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Anthroposophia Theomagica

being received in and conveyed to the inferior portions
of the soul — did mortify all carnal desires, insomuch that
in Adam the sensitive faculties were scarce at all employed,
the spiritual prevailing over them in him, as they do over
the spiritual now in us. Hence we read in Scripture that
during the state of innocence he did not know that he
was naked ; but no sooner eats he of the Tree of Know¬
ledge but he saw his nakedness and was ashamed of it —
wherefore also he hides himself amongst the trees of the
Garden, and when God calls to him he replies : “ I heard
thy voice in the Garden, and I was afraid, because I was
naked ; and I hid myself.” But God, knowing his former
state, answers him with a question : “ Who told thee that
thou wast naked ? Hast thou eaten of the Tree, whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat ? ” 1 Here
wre see a twofold state of man : his first and best in the
spiritual, substantial union of his intellectual parts to
God 2 and the mortification of his ethereal, sensitive
* nature, wherein the fleshly, sinful affections had their
residence ; his second — or his fall — in the eating of the
forbidden fruit, which did cast asleep his intellectual
faculties but did stir up and exalt the sensual. cc For ” — -
saith the serpent — “ God doth know that in the day ye
eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the
woman saw that the Tree was good for food, and that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also unto her husband with her ; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew

1 Genesis, iii, io, ii.

2 This contrast is exceedingly useful in the sense that is not intended
by Vaughan or the theosophy from which he derives. No such union is
tolerated by the text of the myth in Genesis, and this is the first and most
obvious answer to all the reveries, whether those of scholastic theology, of
Kabalism, of Jacob Bohme, Saint-Martin or Martines de Pasqually. The
myth proving unacceptable in its literal sense, allegories were devised to
redeem it, but the myth was sacrificed in these.

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that they were naked.”1 Thus we see the sensual
faculties revived in our first parents and brought from
potentiality into activity2 — as the schoolmen speak — by
virtue of this forbidden fruit. Neither did this eating
.suppress the intellectual powers 3 in Adam only but in all
his generations after him ; for the influence of this fruit
passed, together with his nature, into his posterity. We
are all born like Moses with a veil over the face. This
is it which hinders the prospect of that intellectual shining
light which God hath placed in us ; and — to tell you a
truth that concerns all mankind — the greatest mystery,
both in divinity and philosophy, is how to remove it.4 *

It will not be amiss to speak something in this place of
the nature and constitution of man, to make that more
plain which already hath been spoken. As the great
world consists of three parts — the elemental, the celestial
and the spiritual — above all which God Himself is seated
in that infinite, inaccessible light which streams from His
own nature, even so man hath in him his earthly, elemental
parts, together with the celestial and angelical natures, in
the centre of all which moves and shines the Divine
Spirit.- The normal, celestial, ethereal part of man is
that whereby we do move, see, feel, taste and smell, and
have a commerce with all material objects whatsoever.
It is the same in us as in beasts, and it is derived from
heaven — where it is predominant — to all the inferior
earthly creatures. In plain terms it is part of the Soul

. of the World,6 commonly called the Medial Soul because

»

1 Genesis, iii, 5-7. . 2 De potentia in actum.

3 The witness of the text is of course in the opposite direction, for it is
said that their eyes were opened, meaning the intellectual eyes — by the

fact of knowledge acquired.

4 This is one of Vaughan’s very pregnant occasional dicta, and it is not
less true nor is it the less significant should the root of the hindrance be

other than he presumed.

6 It is a little difficult to follow the psychology of Vaughan because of
his loose method of expression. His view up to a certain point is really
that of the Thomists, recognising (1) a material part of man, the earth of
his body ; (2) a soul part, which is the source of higher sensations and is

40

Anthroposophia Theomagica

the influences of the Divine Nature are conveyed through
it to the more material parts of the creature, with which
of themselves they have no proportion. By means of
this Medial Soul, of the ethereal nature, man is made
subject to the influence of stars and is partly disposed of
by the celestial harmony. For this middle spirit — middle,

I mean, between both extremes and not that which
actually unites the whole together — as well that which
is in the outward heaven as that which is in man, is of a
fruitful, insinuating nature and carried with a strong
desire to multiply itself, so that the celestial form stirs up
and excites the elemental. For this spirit is in man, in
beasts, in vegetables, in minerals ; and in everything it
is the mediate cause of composition and multiplication.
Neither should any wonder that I affirm this spirit to be
in minerals because the operations of it are not discerned
there. For shall we conclude therefore that there is no
inward agent that actuates and specifies those passive,
indefinite principles whereof they are compounded ?
Tell me not now of blind Peripatetical forms and
qualities. A form is that which Aristotle could not define
substantially, nor any of his followers after him, and
therefore they are not competent judges of it. But — I

beseech you — are not the faculties of this spirit suppressed
in man also, as it appeareth in those that are blind ? But
notwithstanding the eye only is destroyed and not .the *
visible power, for that remains, as it is plain in their
dreams. Now, this vision is performed by a reflection

analogous to the soul in animals ; (3) a spirit part, which Vaughan calls
angelical and which, according to the Thomists, belongs to the familia
angelorum . But Vaughan is not likely to have known St Thomas Aquinas
at first hand and in reality he derived from Agrippa, who probably did.
Agrippa says that the elements are in man according to their true pro¬
perties. “ In him also there is, as it were, an ethereal body, the chariot
of the soul, corresponding analogically to the heaven. In him, moreover, -
there are the vegetative life of plants, the senses of animals, a celestial
spirit, angelical reason and divine understanding, together with the true
conjunction of all these -towards one and the same end and divine
possession. ’’ — De Occulta Philosophia, Lib. iii, cap . 36. Vaughan
continues to follow Agrippa closely throughout this part of his thesis.

41

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

*

of the visual radii in their inward, proper cell. For
Nature employs her gifts only where she finds a con¬
venience and fit disposition of organs, which being not
in minerals we may not expect so clear an expression of
the natural powers in them. Notwithstanding, in the
flowers of several vegetables — which in some sort re¬
present the eyes — there is a more subtle, acute percep¬
tion of heat and cold, and other celestial influences, than
in any other part. This is manifest in those herbs which
open at the rising and shut towards the sunset, which
motion is caused by the spirit being sensible of the
approach and departure of the sun. For indeed the
flowers are — as it were — the spring of the spirit, where
it breaks forth and streams, as it appears by the odours
that are more celestial and comfortable there. Again, this
is more evident in the plant-animals — as the vegetable
lamb, Arbor casta , and several others. But this will not
sink with any but such as have seen this spirit separated
from his elements — where I leave it for this time.

Next to this sensual nature of man is the angelical or
rational spirit. This spirit, adheres sometimes to the
Mens , or superior portion of the soul, and then it is filled
with the Divine Light. But more commonly it descends
into the ethereal, inferior portion which St Paul calls the
natural man,1 where it is altered by the celestial influences
and diversely distracted with the irregular affections and
passions of the sensual nature.

Lastly, above the rational spirit is the Mens or hidden
intelligence,2 commonly called the illuminated intellect,3
and of Moses the breath of lives.4 This is that spirit
which God Himself breathed into man and by which man
is united again to God. Now, as the Divine Light, flow¬
ing into the Mens , did assimilate and convert the inferior
portions of the soul to God, so — on the contrary — the

1 Homo animalis. See I CORINTHIANS, ii, 14.

2 Intelligentia absco?idita. 3 Intellectus illustratus.

4 Sfiraculum vitarum. The Vulgate gives spiraculum vita.

42

Anth rop osoph ia Th eomagica

Tree of Knowledge did obscure and darken the superior
portions but awaked and stirred up the animal, sinful
nature. The sum of all is this : man, as long as he con¬
tinued in his union to God, knew the good only 1 — that
is, the things that were of God. But as soon as he
stretched forth his hand and did eat of the forbidden
fruit — that is, the middle soul or spirit of the greater
world — presently upon his disobedience and transgression
of the commandment, his union to the Divine Nature was
dissolved ; and his spirit being united to the spirit of the
world he knew the evil only, that is, the things that were
of the world. True it is he knew the good and the evil,
but the evil in a far greater measure than the good.

Some sparks of grace were left, and though the per¬
fection of innocence was lost upon his Fall from the
Divine Light, yet conscience remained still with him —
partly to direct, partly to punish. Thus you see that
this medial soul or middle spirit is figured by the Tree
of Knowledge ; but he that knows why the Tree of Life
is said to be in the midst of the Garden and to grow out
of the ground will more fully understand that which we
have spoken. We see, moreover, that the faculties
ascribed to the Tree of Knowledge are to be found only
in middle nature. First, it is said to be a tree to be
desired to make one wise ; but it was fleshly, sensual
wisdom, the wisdom of this world and not of God.
Secondly, it is said to be good for food and pleasant to
the eyes. So is the middle nature also, for it is the only
medicine to repair the decays of the natural man and
to continue our bodies in their primitive strength and
integrity.2

1 The text of the mythos says “ knowing good and evil,” from which it
follows that prior to the catastrophe of the mythos man knew neither.

2 This statement should be compared with one which has been the
•subject of a previous note. It was then said ( a ) that God formed man

of an earth which was far better than ordinary clay, and ( b ) that such
earth is the subject of the Philosophical Medicine, which preserves man.
It is now said that the only repairing and therefore preserving Medicine
is a certain middle nature, which is the spirit of this world and the for-

43 - '

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Lastly, that I may speak something for myself : this
is no new unheard-of fancy, as the understanding reader
may gather out of Trismegistus. Nay, I am verily of
opinion that the Egyptians received this knowledge from
the Hebrews, who lived a long time amongst them — as
it appears out of Scripture — and that they delivered it
over to the Grecians. This is plain out of lamblichus,
in his book De Mysteriis , where he hath these words : 1
“ The man of understanding, unveiled before himself,
was of old united to the contemplation of the gods ; but
it came about afterwards that another soul entered into
possession, intermixed with the form of man, and for this
cause he is saddled with the yoke of necessity and fate.”
And what else, I beseech you, is signified unto us in that
poetical fable of Prometheus, that he should steal a certain
fire from heaven, for which trespass God punished the
world with a great many diseases and mortality ?

But somebody may reply : seeing that God made all
things very good — as it appears in 'His review of the
creatures on the sixth day — how could it be a sin in Adam
to eat that which in itself was good ? Verily the sin was
not grounded in the nature of that which he did eat,2
but it was the inference of the commandment, inasmuch
as he was forbidden to eat it. And this is that which
St Paul tells us — that he had not known sin, had it not
been for the Law.3 And again, in another place : “The
strength of sin is the Law.”4 But presently upon the
disobedience of the first man and his transgression of

bidden fruit. If words mean anything, these two are one and the same
Medicine ; but if so God made man of the forbidden fruit, of a subject
described otherwise as fleshly and sensual. It is no wonder that the
Philosophical Medicine is affirmed also to destroy “the temperament
of man.” See pp. 32, 33 of the present work.

1 Co?itemplabilis in se intellectus homo erat quondam Deorum con-
templationi conjunctus : deinde vero atteram ingressus est animam ,
circa humanam formcc speciem contemperatam , atque propterea in ipso
necessitatis, fatique vinculo est alligatus. — De Mysteriis.

2 It was so grounded, however, and that obviously, if it was a tree of
“ fleshly wisdom” and “ not of God.”

3 Romans, vii, 7. 4 I Corinthians, xv, 56.

44

Anthroposophia Theomagica

the commandment, the creature was made subject to
vanity. For the curse followed and the impure seeds
were joined with the pure, and they reign to this hour
in our bodies ; and not in us alone but in every other
natural thing. Hence it is we read in Scripture that
“ the heavens ” themselves “ are not clean in His si ght.” 1
And to this alludes the apostle in that speech of his to
the Colossians, that “ it pleased the Father ... to
reconcile all things to himself ” by Christ, “ whether they
be things in earth, or things in heaven.” 2 And here you
are to observe that Cornelius Agrippa mistook the act
of generation for original sin, which indeed was the
effect of it : and this is the only point in which he hath
miscarried.3

I have now done : only a word more concerning the
situation of Paradise, and the rather because of the
diversity of opinions concerning that solace and the
absurdity of them. St Paul, in his Second Epistle to
the Corinthians, discovers it' in these words : 4 “ 1 knew
a man in Christ about fourteen years ago — whether in
the body, I cannot tell ; or whether out of the body, I
cannot tell : God knoweth — such an one caught up to
the Third Heaven. And 1 knew such a man — whether
in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell : God
knoweth — how that he was caught up into Paradise.” 5
Here you see that Paradise and the Third Heaven are
convertible terms, so that the one discovers the other.
Much more could I have said concerning the Tree of
Knowledge, being in itself a large and very mystical
subject ; but for my part I rest contented with my own

1 Job, xv, 15. 2 Colossians, i, 20.

3 It has to be said notwithstanding that Agrippa — like others before
him and after — offered a clear explanation which we can take or leave,
but with Vaughan omnia exeunt in mysterium , and we get from him no
real definition of original sin.

4 There are, however, two Paradises according to the Kabalistic tradi¬
tion which Vaughan follows at a distance. They are respectively in Binah
and Malkuth , or in the World of the Supernals and the World of Action.

5 II Corinthians, xii, 4.

45

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

particular apprehension and desire not to enlarge it any
further. Neither had 1 committed this much to paper
but out of my love to the truth, and that I would not
have these thoughts altogether to perish.

You see now — if you be not men of a most dense
head 1 — -how man fell,2 and by consequence you may
guess by what means he is to rise. He must be united
to the Divine Light, from whence by disobedience he was
separated. A flash or tincture of this must come or he
can no more discern things , spiritually than he can dis¬
tinguish colours naturally without the light of the sun.
This light descends and is united to him by the same
means as his soul was at first. I speak not here of the
symbolical, exterior descent from the prototypical planets
to the created spheres 3 and thence into “ the night of the
body ” ; 4 but I speak of that most secret and silent lapse
of the spirit tc through the degrees of natural forms ” ; 6
and this is a mystery not easily apprehended. It is a
Kabalistic maxim that c< no spiritual being descending
here below can operate without a garment.” 6 Consider
well of it with yourselves, and take heed you wander not
in the circumference. The soul of man, whiles she is in
the body, is like a candle shut up in a dark lanthorn, or
a fire that is almost stifled for want of air. Spirits — say
the Platonics — when they are cc in their own country ” 7 are
like the inhabitants of green fields who live perpetually

1 Durissimce cervicis homines.

2 As Vaughan begins his exposition of the Trees in the Garden of
Eden with a promise to conceal the particulars he does anything but
explain— even from his own standpoint — how man fell. Of the conse¬
quences — as he understood them — he recites something, and it may be
summed up as a separation from the Divine Light.

3 A reference presumably to the soul’s pre-existence, about which it is
curious to note that Vaughan says little otherwise in any of his writings.

4 In noctem corporis — quoted from No. 8 of the Conclusiones
Kabalistic/e, drawn by Picus de Mirandula from Zoharic books.

5 Per formarmn naturalium seriem.

6 Nulla res spiritualis descendens inferius operatur sine indumento.-—
Conclusiones Kabalistkve, No. 35.

7 In sud patrid. — Proclus : DE Anima.

46

Anthroposophia Theomagica

amongst flowers, in a spicy, odorous air ; but here below,
“ in the circle of generation,” 1 they mourn because of
darkness and solitude, like people locked up in a pest-
house. “ Here do they fear, desire and grieve,” &c.2
This is it makes the soul subject to so many passions, to
such a Proteus of humours. Now she flourishes, now
she withers — now a smile, now a tear ; and when she
hath played out her stock, then comes a repetition of the
same fancies, till at last she cries out with Seneca : “ How
long this self-same round ?”3 This is occasioned by her
vast and infinite capacity, which is satisfied with nothing
but God, from Whom at first she descended. It is
miraculous to consider how she struggles with her chains
when man is in extremity, how she falsifies with fortune,
what pomp, what pleasure, what a paradise doth she
propose to herself. She spans kingdoms in a thought
and enjoys all that inwardly which she misseth outwardly.
In her are patterns and notions of all things in the world.
If she but fancies herself in the midst of the sea, presently
she is there and hears the rushing of the billows. She
makes an invisible voyage from one place to another and
presents to herself things absent as if they were present.
The dead live to her : there is no grave can hide them
from her thoughts. Now she is here in dirt and mire,
and in a trice above the moon.

Far over storms she soars, hears rushing clouds
Beneath her feet, and the blind thunder spurns.4

But this is nothing. If she were once out of the body
she could act all that she imagined. “ In a moment,” saith
Agrippa- — “ whatsoever she desires, that shall follow.” 5
In this state she can “ act upon the moods of the macro-

1 In sph<zra generationis.

2 Mine metuunt , cup iunt que, dolent , &c.

3 Quousque eadem ?

4 Celsior exurgit pluviis, auditque rue7ites
Sub pedibus nimbos , et cceca tonitrua calcat.

5 In momento quicquid cupit assequeretur.

47

The IV irks of Thomas Vaughan

cosm,” 1 make general commotions in the two spheres of
air and water, and alter the complexions of times. Neither
is this a fable but the unanimous finding of the Arabians,
with the two princes Avicebron 2 and Avicenna.3 She hath
then an absolute power in miraculous and more than
natural transmutations. She can in an instant transfer
her own vessel from one place to another. She can — by
an union with universal force4 — infuse and communicate
her thoughts to the absent, be the distance never so great.
Neither is there anything under the sun but she may
know it, and — remaining only in one place — she can
acquaint herself with the actions of all places whatsoever.
I omit to speak of her magnet, wherewith she can attract
all things — as well spiritual as natural. Finally, “ there is
no work in the whole course of Nature, however arduous,
however excellent, however supernatural it may be,
that the human soul, when it has attained the source of
its. divinity — which the Magi term the soul standing
and not falling — cannot accomplish by its own power and
apart from any external help.”5 But who is he^-amidst
so many thousand philosophises— that knows her nature
substantially and the genuine, specifical use thereof ? This
is Abraham’s “great secret, wonderful exceedingly, and
deeply hidden, sealed with six seals, and out of these
proceed fire, water and air, which are divided into males

1 Movere humor es Majoris Animalis.

2 Avicebron is Ibn Gebirol, circp 1021-1070, a Spanish Jew, who is
important in the history of philosophy. See Isaac Myer : The PHILO¬
SOPHICAL Writings of Solomon Ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol, &c.
Philadelphia, 1888.

3 Avicenna, or Ibn Sina, 980-1037, wrote a great encyclopaedic work
on philosophy and science. His repute and influence were considerable
throughout the middle ages.

4 Per unionem cum virtute universali. An old claim of magical
art, but its warrants — within measures — are in psychic experiences of
to-day.

5 Nullum opus est in tota Natures serie tam arduum , tam excellens ,
tarn denique miraculosum , quod anima humana divinitatis suce originem
consecuta , quam vocant Magi animam stantem et non cadentem, prop* iis
viribus , absque omni externo adminiculo non queat ejficere. — De Occulta
PhilOSOPHIA, Lib . iii, cap . 44.

48

Anthroposophia Theomagica

and females.” 1 We should therefore pray continually
that God would open our eyes, whereby we might see to
employ that talent which He hath bestowed upon, us but
lies buried now in the ground and doth not fructify at all.
He it is to Whom we must be united by “ an essential
contact,” 2 and then we shall know all things “ shewn
forth openly by clear vision in the Divine Light.” 3 This
influx from Him is the true, proper efficient of our
regeneration, that sperma 4 of St John, the seed of God
which remains in us. If this be once obtained we need
not serve under Aristotle or Galen, nor trouble ourselves
with foolish utrums and ergos^ for His unction will instruct
us in all things.

But indeed the doctrine of the schoolmen, which in
a manner makes God and Nature contraries, hath so
weakened our confidence towards Heaven that we look
upon all receptions from thence as impossibilities. But
if things were well weighed and this cloud of tradition
removed we should quickly find that God is more ready
to give than we are to receive. For He made man — as
it were — for His playfellow, that he might survey and
examine His works. The inferior creatures He made
not for themselves but His own glory, which glory He
could not receive from anything so perfectly as from
man, who — having in him the spirit of discretion — might
judge of the beauty of the creature and consequently
praise the Creator. Wherefore also God gave him the
use of all His works ; and in Paradise how familiar is
He, or rather how doth He play with Adam. “ Out of
the ground ” — saith the Scripture — “ the Lord God
formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the

1 Secretum magnum , maxime mirabih et occultissimum , sex annulis
sigillatum , et ex eis exeunt Ignis , Aqua et Aer , qua? dividuntur in mares
et fceminas — Sepher Yetzirah.

2 Contactu essentiali.

3 Revelatd facie, fier clara?n in Divino Lumine visione?n.

4 The reference is presumably to I St John, iii, 9 : “ Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin ; for His seed remaineth in him.”

49

4

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

air ; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would
call them : and whatsoever Adam called every living
creature, that was the name thereof.” 1 These were the
books which God ordained for Adam and for us his
posterity, not the quintessence of Aristotle nor the
temperament of Galen the Antichrist. But this is
“ tormenting the hornets.” 2 Now will the Peripatetics
brand me with their contra principia and the school divines
with a tradatur Satan re. I know I shall be hated of most
for my pains and perhaps scoffed at like Pythagoras in
Lucian : “ Who buyeth Eugenius ? Who seeketh to be
more than a man, or to know the harmony of the world
and be born again ? ” 3 But because, according to their
own master, a covenant is honourable 4 and that an
affirmative of this nature cannot fall to the ground with
a Christian, I will come to my oath. I do therefore pro¬
test before my glorious God, I have not written this out
of malice but out of zeal and affection to the truth of
my Creator. Let them take heed then lest — whiles they
contemn mysteries — they violate the majesty of God in
His creatures and trample the blood of the covenant
under foot. But shall I not be counted a conjurer, seeing
I follow the principles of Cornelius Agrippa, that grand
Archimagus, as the antichristian Jesuits call him ? He
indeed is my author, and next to God I owe all that I
have unto him. He was, Reader, by extraction noble ;
by religion a protestant5 — as it appears out of his own
writings — besides the late but malicious testimony of

1 Genesis, ii, 19.

2 Irritare crabones. — Plautus — ix. to meddle with angry people.

3 Quis emet Eugeni um ? Quis super ho7ninem esse vult t Quis scire
universi harmoniam et reviviscere denuo ?

4 " OpKOS TifJLUhraTOS i<TTLV.

5 As after the zeal of research and the satisfaction of learning displayed
in a memorable pageant, Cornelius Agrippa became convinced that the
sciences of his period were vain, including his own, so was he disillusionised
in matters of official religion. But he did not become a protestant. His
position is comparable to that of Paracelsus, who wished Luther and the
chaos of reformers, well, believing doubtless that something would evolve
therefrom, but he did not join the reformers.

5°

Anthroposophia Theomagica

Promondus, a learned papist ; 1 for his course of life a
man famous in his person, both for actions of war and
peace ; a favourite to the greatest princes of his time and
the just wonder of all learned men. Lastly, he was one
that carried himself above the miseries he was born to
and made fortune know man might be her master. This
is answer enough to a few sophisters and — in defiance of
all calumnies — thus I salute his memory.

Great, glorious penman, whom I should not name
Lest I might seem to measure thee by fame,

Nature’s apostle and her choice high priest,

Her mystical and bright evangelist :

How am I rapt when I contemplate thee
And wind myself above all that I see.

The spirits of thy lines infuse a fire —

Like the world’s soul — which makes me thus aspire
I am embodied by thy books and thee
And in thy papers find my ecstacy ;

Or, if I please but to descend a strain,

Thy elements do screen my soul again.

I can undress myself by thy bright glass
And then resume the enclosure as I was.

Now I am earth, and now a star, and then
A spirit — now a star and earth again
Or if I will but ransack all that be
In the least moment I engross all three.

I span the heaven and earth and things above,

And — which is more — join natures with their love.

He crowns my soul with fire and there doth shine,

But like the rainbow in a cloud of mine.

Yet there’s a law by which I discompose
The ashes and the fire itself disclose ;

But in his emerald still he doth appear :

They are but grave-clothes which he scatters here.

Who sees this fire without his mask, his eye
Must needs be swallow’d by the light and die.

1 As regards the malicious testimony of Promondus/’ the record which
contains it seems to have passed out of knowledge, and he himself is
unknown.

51 .

The W jrks of Thomas Vaughan

These are the mysteries for which I wept —

Glorious Agrippa-— when thy language slept,

Where thy dark texture made me wander far,

Whiles through that pathless night I traced the star ;

But I have found those mysteries for which

Thy book was more than thrice-piled o’er with pitch.

Now a new East beyond the stars I see
Where breaks the day of thy divinity.

Heaven states a commerce here with man, had he

But grateful hands to take and eyes to see.

*

Hence, you fond schoolmen, that high truth deride,

And with no arguments but noise and pride —

You that damn all but what yourselves invent
And yet find nothing by experiment :

Your fate is written by an unseen hand,

But his Three Books with the Three Worlds shall stand.

Thus far, Reader, I have handled the composition and
royalty of man. I shall now speak something of his
dissolution and close up my discourse — as he doth his
life— with death. Death is “ a recession of life into the
hiddenness ” 1 — not the annihilation of any one particle
but a retreat of hidden natures to the same state they
were in before they were manifested. This is occasioned
by the disproportion and inequality of the matter ; for
when the harmony is broken by the excess of any one
principle, the vital twist — without a timely reduction of
the first unity — disbands and unravels. In this recess
the several ingredients of man return to those several
elements from whence they came at first in their access
to a. compound. For to think that God creates anything
ex rtihilo in the work of generation is a pure metaphysical
whimsey. Thus the earthly parts — as -we see by experi¬
ence — return to the earth, the celestial to a superior
heavenly limbus and the spirit to God that gave it.
Neither should any wonder that I affirm the Spirit of
the living God to be in man, when God Himself doth

1 Recessus vita, in absconditum.

52

Anthroposophia Theomagica

acknowledge it for His own. “ My spirit ” — saith He—
“ shall not always be sheathed ” — for so the Hebrew
signifies — “ in man, for that he also is flesh : yet his days
shall be an hundred and twenty years.” 1 Besides, the
breathing of it into Adam proves it proceeded from God
and therefore the Spirit of God.

Thus Christ breathed on His apostles and they received
the Holy Ghost. In Ezekiel the Spirit comes from the
four winds and breathes upon the slain, that they might
live. Now, this Spirit was the Spirit of Life, the same
with that Breath of Life which was breathed into the
first man, and he became a living soul. But without
doubt the Breath or Spirit of Life is the Spirit of God.
Neither is this Spirit in man alone but in all the great
world, though after another manner. For God breathes
continually and passeth through all things like an air
that refresheth — wherefore also He is called of Pythagoras
“ the quickening of all.”2 Hence it is that God in
Scripture hath several names, according to those several
offices He performs in the preservation of His creature.
“ Moreover ” — saith the Areopagite — “ they bear witness
to His presence in our minds, as also in our souls and
even in our bodies, that He is in heaven and on earth,
and simultaneously in His . very self : they declare Him
to be within the world, to be around and also above it,
over and above heaven, the superior essence, sun, star,
fire, water, wind, dew, cloud, the very stone and rock :
to be in all things which are and Himself to be nothing
which they are.” 3 And most certain it is because of His

1 The Authorised Version says: “My spirit shall not always strive
with man” — Genesis, vi. 3. But the Vulgate gives: Dixitque Deus :
Non permanebit Spiritus metis in homine in ceternum ; “ My spirit shall
not always abide in man,” which justifies Vaughan’s alternative.

2 'Vvxwo'is ruv ftxwv, animatio universorum.

3 Quin etiam in mentibus ipsum inesse dicunt , atque in animis, et i?i
corporibus , et in caelo esse , atque in terra , ac simul in seipsoj eundem in
mundo esse, circa mundum , supra mundum, supra cesium, superiorem
essentiam , solem , stellam, ignem, aquam, spiritum, rorem, nebulam , ipsum
lapidem, petram , omnia esse quee sunt , et nihil eorum qua sunt .

53 • .

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

secret passage and penetration through all that other
simile in Dionysius was given Him : cc Let that also be
added which may seem vilest and most absurd of all,
that the Lord hath called Himself a worm of the earth,
as handed down to us by those versed in divine
things.” 1

Now, this figurative kind of speech, with its variety
of appellations, is not only proper to Holy Writ but the
Egyptians also — as Plutarch tells me — called Isis, or the
most secret part of Nature, myrionymous ; and certainly
that the same thing should have a thousand names is no
news to such as have studied the Philosopher’s Stone.
But to return thither whence we have digressed : I told
you the several principles of man in his dissolution part —
as sometimes friends do — -several ways : earth to earth —
as our Liturgy hath it — -and heaven to heaven, according
to that of Lucretius :

The part which came from earth to earth returns,

But what descended from ethereal shores

High heaven’s resplendent temples welcome back.2

But more expressly the divine Vergil, speaking of
his bees :

Induced by such examples, some have taught
That bees have portions of ethereal thought —

Endued with particles of heavenly fires ;

For God the whole created mass inspires.

Through heaven and earth and ocean’s depths He throws
His influence round and kindles as He goes.

Hence flocks and herds and men and beasts and fowls
With breath are quicken’d, and attract their souls ;

1 Addam etiam et quod omnium vilissimum esse et magis absurdum
videtur , ipsum sibi vermis speciem adhibere ab ids qui in rebus divi?iis
multum diuque versati sunt esse traditum. — De Ccelesti HierarCHIA,
cap. ii. The reference is to PSALM xxii, v. 6.

2 Cedit item retro de terra quod fuit ante

In terram , et quod missum est ex cetheris oris ,

Id rursum cceli fulgentia templa receptant.

54

Anthroposophia Theomagica

Hence take the forms His prescience did ordain,

And into Him at length resolve again.

No room is left for death : they mount the sky
And to their own congenial planets fly.1

This vanish or ascent of the inward, ethereal principles
doth not presently follow their separation ; for that part
of man which Paracelsus calls the u sidereal man ” 2 and
more appositely the “ brute part of man,” 3 but Agrippa
the “ spectre ” 4 and Vergil

Ethereal sense and warmth of simple breath 5 —

this part — I say — which in the astral man hovers
sometimes about the dormitories of the dead, and that
because of the magnetism or sympathy which is between
him and the radical, vital moisture. In this “ spectre ”
is the seat of the imagination, and it retains after death
an impress of those passions and affections to which it
was subject in the body. This makes him haunt those
places where the whole man hath been most conversant,
and imitate the actions and gestures of life. , This
magnetism is excellently confirmed by that memorable
accident at Paris which Dr Fludd proves to be true by
the testimonies of great and learned men. Agrippa also,
speaking of the apparitions of the dead, hath these words :
“ But that which I have seen myself with my own eyes
and have touched with my own hands I will not mention
in this place, lest it be my lot to be accused of falsehood by

1 His quidam signis atque hcec exempla secuti

Esse apibus partem Divince Mentis et haustus .

ASthereos dixere. Deum namque ire per omnes
Terrasque tractnsqae maris , ccelumque profundum.

Hinc pecudes, armenta , viros, genus omne peranum,

Quemque sibi tennis nascentem arcessere vitas.

Scilicet hue reddi deinde ac resoluta referri
Omnia : nec morti esse locum , sed viva volare
Syderis in numerum atque alto succedere coelo.

1 have used Dryderfs translation for the text, the Latin only being
given in the original.

2 Homo sidereus. 3 Brutum hominis. 4 I do lum.

5 AEthereum sensum atque aurai simplicis ignem.

55

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

the ignorant, by reason of the marvellous strangeness of the
occurrences.” 1 But this scene2 exceeds not the circuit of
one year, for when the. body begins fully to corrupt the
spirit returns to his original element. These apparitions
have made a great noise in the world, not without some
benefit to the pope ; but I shall reserve all for my great
work, where I shall more fully handle these mysteries.

I am now to speak of man as he is subject to a super¬
natural judgment ; and — to be short — my judgment is
this : I conceive there are — besides the empyreal heaven
— two inferior mansions or receptacles of spirits. The
one is that which our Saviour calls u the outer darkness,”3
and this is it whence there is no redemption — “ Whence
souls may never come forth,” 4 as the divine Plato hath
it. The other, I suppose, is somewhat answerable to the
Elysian fields, some delicate, pleasant region, the suburbs
of heaven — as it were — those seven mighty mountains
whereupon there grow roses and lilies, or the outgoings
of Paradise in Esdras.5 Such was that place where the
oracle told Amelius the soul of Plotinus was :

Where friendship is, where Cupid gentle-eyed,

Replete with purest joy, enrich’d by God
With sempiternal and ambrosial streams :

Whence are the bonds of love, the pleasant breath,

The tranquil air of great Jove’s golden race.6

1 Sed et ipse ego , quee meis oculis vidi et manibus tetigi hoc loco referre
nolo , ne me ob rerum stupendam admirationem de mendacio ab incredulis
argui contingat. —

3 Sccene in the original orthography. The word seems inapplicable.
Vaughan may have written the Latin Scceva — a sign, in the sense of
omen.

3 T2> (Tk6tos, rb il-CoTepov.

4 ’'Oder ovirore i^laot : unde anima nunquam egrediuntur.

6 II Esdras, ii, 19. The passage referred to is part of the word of the
Lord to Esdras and has nothing to do with Paradise, an allusion to the
“ outgoings ” of which occurs, however, cap. iv, 7, in another connection.

6 Ubi amicitia est , ubi Cupido visu mollis ,

Puree plenus Icetitice et sempi terms rivis
Ambrosiis irrigatus a Deo ; unde sunt amorum
Retinacula , dulcis spiritus et tranquillus cether
Aurei geneiis magni Jovis.

s6

Anthroposophia Theomagica

&

Stellatus supposeth there is a successive, gradual ascent
of the soul, according to the process of expiation, and he
makes her inter-residence in the moon.1 But let it be
where it will, my opinion is that this middlemost mansion
is appointed for such souls whose whole man hath not
perfectly repented in this world. But notwithstanding
they are of such as shall be saved,2 and are reserved in
this place to a further repentance in the spirit for those
offences they committed in the flesh. I do not here
maintain that ignis fatuus of purgatory, or any such
painted, imaginary tophet ; but that which I speak of—
if 1 am not much mistaken — I have a strong Scripture
for. It is that of St Peter, where he speaks of Christ
being “ put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the
Spirit : by which also he went and preached unto the
spirits in prison ; which sometime were disobedient,
when once the longsufFering of God waited in the days
of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few,
that is, eight souls were saved by water.” 3 These spirits
were the souls of those who perished “in the Flood and
were reserved in this place till Christ should come and
preach repentance unto them.

I know Scaliger thinks to evade this construction with
his qui tunc , that they were then alive — namely, before the
Flood — when they were preached unto.4 But I shall
overthrow this single nonsense with three solid reasons,
drawn out of the body of the text. First, it is not said
that the Spirit itself precisely preached unto them, but He
Who went thither by the Spirit, namely, Christ in the

1 Marcellus Palingenius Stellatus wrote ZODIACUS Vitte, a Latin hexa¬
meter poem in twelve books corresponding to the Twelve Signs. Book
ix, which answers to Sagittarius, recounts a vi$it to the Moon, which is
regarded as the place of judgment for departed souls.

2 De salvandorum numero . 3 I St Peter, iii, 18-20.

4 There were two Scaligers, father and son, respectively 1484-1558 and

1540-1609. They were both sufficiently voluminous. Julius Caesar — the
father — wrote commentaries on the zoological and botanical works of
Aristotle and Theophrastus. The son — Josephus Justus — was a famous
philologist of his period.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

hypostatical union of His soul and Godhead — which
union was not before the Flood when these dead did live.
Secondly, it is written that He preached unto spirits,. not
to men, to those which were in prison, not to those
which were “ in life,” 1 which is quite contrary to Scaliger.
And this exposition the apostle confirms in another place
— “to them that are dead ” <2 — the dead were preached to,
not the living. Thirdly, the apostle says these spirits
were but sometime disobedient and withal tells us when
— namely, in the days of Noah. Whence I gather they
were not disobedient at this time of preaching ; and this
is plain out of the subsequent chapter. cc For this cause ”
— saith the apostle — “ was the gospel preached also to
them that are dead, that they might be judged according
to men in the flesh, but live according to Go’d in the
spirit.”3 Now, this judgment in the flesh was grounded
on their disobedience in the days of Noah, for which also
they were drowned ; but salvation according to God in
the spirit proceeded from their repentance at the preach¬
ing of Christ, which was after death. I do not impose
this on the reader as if 1 sat in the infallible chair, but 1
am confident the text of itself will speak no other sense.
As for the doctrine, it is no way hurtful, but — in my
opinion — as it detracts not from the mercy of God so it
adds much to the comfort of man.

I shall now speak a word more concerning myself and
another concerning the common philosophy, and then I
have done. It will be questioned perhaps what I am,
and especially what my religion is. Take this short
answer. I am neither papist nor sectary but a true,
resolute protestant in the best sense of the Church of
England. For philosophy as it now stands it is altogether
imperfect and withal false — a mere apothecary’s drug, a
mixture of inconsistent, contrary principles which no way
agree with the harmony and method of Nature. . In a

1 In vivis — r o7s ey (pvXanfj TTV ev fxa<T iv , I ST PETER, iii, 1 9.

2 Ibid., iv, 6. 3 Ibid., iv, 6,

58

Anthroposophia Theomagica

word, the whole encyclopaedia — as they call it — baiting
the demonstrative, mathematical part — is built on mere
imagination, without the least light of experience. I
wish therefore all the true sons of my famous Oxford
Mother to look beyond Aristotle and not to confine their
intellect to the narrow and cloudy horizon of his text ;
for he is as short of Nature as the grammarians are of
steganography. I expect not their thanks for this my
advice or discovery ; but verily the time will come when
this truth shall be more perfectly manifested, and especially
that great and glorious mystery whereof there is little
spoken in this book : C£ the alone King Messias, the Word
made flesh of the Father, hath revealed this secret, to be
more openly manifested in a certain fulness of time.” 1
It is Cornelius Agrippa’s own prediction, and I am con¬
fident it shall find patrons enough when nothing remains
here of me but memory.

My sweetest Jesus, ’twas Thy voice : If I
Be lifted up I’ll draw all to the sky.

Yet I am here. I’m stifled in this clay,

Shut up from Thee and the fresh East of day.

I know Thy hand’s not short ; but I’m unfit —

A foul, unclean thing — to take hold of it.

I am all dirt, nor can I hope to please
Unless in mercy Thou lov’st a disease. . .

Diseases may be cured ; but who’ll reprieve
Him that is dead ? Tell me, my God, I live.

’Tis true, I live ; but I so sleep withal
I cannot«move, scarce hear when Thou dost call.

Sin’s lullabies charm me when I would come ;

But draw me after Thee and I will run.

Thou know’st I’m sick : let me not feasted be,

But keep a diet, and prescribed by Thee.

Should I carve for myself I would exceed
To surfeits soon and by self-murder bleed.

1 Solus Rex Messias , Verbum Patris caro f actum, arca?ium hoc revelavit ,
aliqua temporis plenitudi?ie apertius mamfestaturus .

59

The W irks of Thomas V aughan

I ask for stones and scorpions, but still cross’d —

And all for love — should’st Thou grant, I were lost.
Dear Lord, deny me still, and never sign
My will but when that will agrees with Thine.

And when this conflict’s pass’d and I appear
To answer what a patient I was here,

How I did weep when Thou didst woo, repine
At Thy best sweets and in a childish whine
Refuse Thy proffer’d love, yet cry and call
For rattles of my own, to play withal —

Look on Thy cross and let Thy blood come in.

When mine shall blush as guilty of my sin,

Then shall I live, being rescued in my fall,

A text of mercy to Thy creatures all,

Who having seen the worst of sins in me
Must needs confess the best of loves in Thee.

I have now done, Reader, but how much to my own
prejudice I cannot tell. I am confident this shall not
pass without noise ; but I may do well enough if thou
grantest me but one request. I would not have thee look
here for the paint and trim of rhetoric, and the rather
because English is a language the author was not born to.
Besides this piece was composed in haste and in my days of
mourning on the sad occurrence of a brother’s death.
“ And who knoweth how to write amidst a wailing of
tears and ink?”1

To conclude : if 1 have erred in anything — and yet I
followed the rules of creation — 1 expose it not to the
mercy of man but of God, Who as He is most able so
also is He most willing to forgive us in the day of our
accounts.

Finis

1 Et quis didicit s crib ere in luctfi lachrymal-urn et a'ramcnti f

6o

AN ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER.

If the old itch of scribbling — a disease very proper to
Galenists — surprise any of their tribe, J shall expect from
them these following performances : first, a plain, positive
exposition of all the passages in this book, without any
injury to the sense of their author ; for if they interpret
them otherwise than they ought, they but create errors of
their own and then overthrow them*. Secondly, to prove
their familiarity and knowledge in this art, let them give
the reader a punctual discovery of all the secrets thereof.

If this be more than they can do, it is argument enough
they know not what they oppose ; and if they do not
know, how can they judge, or if they judge, where is
their evidence to condemn ? Thirdly, let them not
mangle and discompose my book with a scatter of observa¬
tions but proceed methodically to the censure of each part,
expounding what is obscure and discovering the very
practice, that the reader may find my positions to be false,
not only in their theory but, if he will essay it, by his own
particular experience.

I have two admonitions more to the ingenuous and
well-disposed reader : first, that he would not slight my *
endeavours because of my years, which are but few. It
is the custom of most men to measure knowledge by
the beard ; but look thou rather on the soul, an essence
of that nature “ which requireth not the courses of time for
its perfection.”1 Secondly, that he would not conclude
anything rashly concerning the subject of this Art, for it
is a principle not easily apprehended. It is neither earth

1 Qua ad fiZr fee tionem suam curricula teniporis non desi derat. — Proclus.

6l

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

nor water, air nor fire. It is not gold, silver, Saturn,
antimony or vitriol, nor any kind of mineral whatsoever.
It is not blood, nor the seed of any individual — as some
unnatural, obscene authors have imagined. In a word,
it is no mineral, no vegetable, no animal, but a system —
as it were — of all three. In plain terms, it is the seed
of the greater animal,1 the seed of heaven and earth, our
most secret, miraculous hermaphrodite. If you know
this — and with it the Hydro-pyro-magical Art — you may,
with some security, attempt the work : if not, practice is
the way to poverty. Essay nothing without science, but
confine yourselves to those bounds^ which Nature hath
prescribed you.

1 Sfierma majoris animalis

ANIMA MAGICA ABSC0ND1TA

OR A DISCOURSE OF THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT

. OF NATURE

* «

»

s

•v

I

♦

n

X

\

(

i

♦

TO THE READER

o

Now God defend : what will become of me ? I have
neither consulted the stars nor their urinals, the Almanacks.
A fine fellow to neglect the prophets who are read in
England every day. They shall pardon me for this
oversight.1 There is a mystery in their profession they
have not so much as heard of — the star-spangled Christian
heaven 2 — a new heaven fancied on the old earth. Here
the twelve apostles have surprised the zodiac and all the
saints are ranged on their North and South sides. It
were a pretty vanity to preach when St Paul is ascendant,
and would not a papist smile to have his pope elected
under St Peter ? Reader, if I studied these things I
would think myself worse employed than the Roman
Chaucer was in his Troilus.3 I come out as if there
were no hours in the day, nor planets in the hours :
neither do I care for anything but that interlude of
Perendenga in Michael Cervantes : “ Let the old man,
my master, live, and Christ be with us all.” Thou wilt
wonder now where this drives, for I have neither a
Conde de Lemos nor a Cardinal to pray for. I pray for
the dead, that is, I wish him a fair remembrance whose
labours have deserved it. It happened in exposing my
former discourse to censure — a custom hath strangled
many truths in the cradle — that a learned man suggested
to me some bad opinion he had of my author, Henricus

1 n ap6pa.fj.ci. 2 Cerium stellatum Christianum.

3 The point appears to be that according to the ruling of a certain
oracle the life of Troilus guaranteed Troy against fall. But the son of
Priam was slain by Achilles and the city perished. The comparison of
Vergil with Chaucer is not fortunate.

65

5

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Cornelius Agrippa. I ever understood it was not one
but many in whose sentiment that miracle suffered. It
is the fortune of deep writers to miscarry because of
obscurity. Thus the spots in the moon with some men
are earth, but ’tis more probable they are water. There
is no day so clear but there are lees towards the horizon :
so inferior wits, when they reflect on higher intellects,
leave a mist in their beams. Had he lived in ignorance,
as most do, he might have passed hence like the last
year’s clouds, without any more remembrance. But as
I believe the truth a main branch of that end to which
I was born, so I hold it my duty to vindicate him from
whom I have received it. The world then being not
able to confute this man’s principles by reason went
about to do it by scandal ; and the first argument they
fastened on was that of the Jew against his Saviour :
“ Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil.”1 The chief in
this persecution is Cigognes,2 and after him Delrio in
his fabulous Disquisitions .3 But Paulus Jovius stirred
in the vomit, who amongst other men’s lives hath put
my author to death.4 It is done indeed emphatically
betwixt him and his poet, whom he hired — it seems — to
stitch verse to his prose and so patched up the legend.
u Who would believe ” — saith he — “ an amazing capacity
to have been concealed in the sedate countenance of
Henry Cornelius Agrippa?”5 In his subsequent dis-

1 St John, viii, 48.

2 i.e. Strozzi Cigogna, whose Magle Omnifarle, vel potius aniversce
naturce Theatrum, appeared in Italian and was translated into Latin
in 1606.

3 Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri Sex . . . Auctore Martino
Delrio Societatis Jesu P res by ter 0, &c. I know only the second edition
in quarto, Leyden, 1604. The references to Agrippa in this vast treatise
are few and far between.

4 The multitudinous writings of Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, were
collected and published at Basle between 1578 and 1596 in five folio
volumes. They treated of many matters, but demonology was not among
them. I do not pretend to say in which portion of the vast memorial
there may occur some reference to Agrippa.

6 Qtiis in Henrici Cornelii Agrippce sedato vultu portentosum ingenium
latuisse crediderit ?

66

Anima Magic a Abscondita

course he states his question and returns my author’s
best parts as a libel on his memory. But that which
troubles him most of all is that Agrippa should prove his
doctrine out of the Scriptures. Then he inculcates the
solemn crambe of his dog-devil, whose collar — emblem¬
atically wrought with nails — made the ruff to his
familiar. For a close to the story he kills him at Lyons,
where — being near his departure — he unravelled his
magic in this desperate dismission : “ Begone, abandoned
Beast, who hast lost me everything.” 1 This is the most
gross lie and the least probable in every circumstance
that ever was related. Devils use not to quit their
conjurers in the day of death ; neither will they at such
times be exterminated. This is the hour wherein they
attend their prey and from seeming servants become cruel
masters. Besides, is it not most gross that any should
dog this devil from Agrippa’s lodging to Araris, where —
saith this prelate — he plunged himself? Certainly spirits
pass away invisibly and with that dispatch no mortal man
can trace them. Believe this, and believe all the fables
of purgatory.

Now, Reader, thou hast heard the worst ; lend a just
ear and thou shalt hear the best. Johannes Wierus, a
professed adversary to ceremonial magic and some time
secretary to Cornelius Agrippa, in his Dcemonomonia 2 speaks
thus. He wonders that some learned Germans and
Italians were not ashamed to traduce his master in their
public writings. That he had a dog whose call was
Monsieur he confesseth, and this spaniel during his service
he used to lead, when Agrippa walked abroad, by a hair-
chain.3 “And certainly” — saith he — “the dog was a
natural male animal,”4 to which Agrippa coupled a bitch

1 Abi, fierdita bestia , qui me to turn per didisti.

2 A French translation appeared in 1579 under the title: HlSTOiRES,
Disputes et Discours des Illusions et Impostures des Diables , &c. See
Livre ii, c. 5, for the justification of Agrippa.

3 In loro ex pilis concinnato.

4 At rev era canis erat naturalis masculus.

6?

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

of the same colour, called Mademoiselle. It is confessed
he was fond of this dog, and having divorced his first
wife would suffer him — for a sarcasm — to sleep with
him under the sheets. In his study too this dog
would couch on the table by his master, whence this
great philosopher, “ absolutely surrounded by his extra¬
ordinary manuscript treasures'’1 — saith Wierus — would
not sometimes stir out for a whole week together. So
studious was he for the good of posterity, who have
but coldly rewarded him for his pains. I have observed
also in his Epistles that when he was resident at
Malines his domestics used to give him an account in
their letters how his dogs fared — so fond was he of
those creatures.2

But to come to the rest of the legend : Paulus Jovius
tells you he died at Lyons C£in a squalid and gloomy inn ” ; 3
but Wierus — who had more reason to be inquisitive after
his master’s death — tells me he died at Granople, and that
“in the Lord,”4 not desperately — as his enemies would
have it. Here now was a jovial stride, from Gratianopolis
to Lugdunum : 5 sure this Paul was a scant geographer.
But, Reader, it is not my intention to conceal anything in
this matter : know therefore that Agrippa had another
dog, his Filioli , and this last died in more respect than
most of his master’s adversaries. For my author — by
some secret means — having strangely qualified him, divers
learned men writ epitaphs upon him, whereof some have
been published and are yet extant. Out of this fable t)f
the Cerberus Baptista Possevinus pumped these verses :

1 Inter supellectilem chartaceam certe msignem delitescens.

2 The most accessible source of reference for the English reader is
Henry Morley : Cornelius Agrippa, 2 vols. 1856, a sympathetic and
excellent study. There are in all seven books of Agrippa’s correspondence.
They appeared in his collected works soon after his death. A selection
was translated into French in : Henri Corn^lis Agrippa ; Sa Vie et ses
CEuvres. Par Joseph Orsier, 1 91 1.

3 Ignobili et tenebroso in diversorio. 4 In Dommo.

5 Gratianopolis is Grenoble and Lugdunum is Lyons, unless Lugdunum
Batavorum is intended, i.e. Levden.

68

Anima Magica Abscondita

O ye who, living, mark this grave and deem
What lies therein deserves the word of peace,

Know, here entomb’d, abysmal Styx’s King,

On earth protected by a guard from hell
But in perdition now his warder’s prey.

His powers controll’d, he might have soar’d as far
On high as now into the deep he sinks.1

Thus have they all-to-bedevilled him ; but why may not
truth run in verse as well as scandal ?

So great Agrippa for two worlds sufficed
And powers diverse displayed in broken frame.

Earth conquers earth and heaven has links with heaven.
Alive he wrote, confronted by the wise.

Nature draws Nature, and supernal life
Acclaims his soul as kindred to the heights.

He taught in life and teaches yet in death,

And whilst ascending high amidst the stars
Some magic potence still his hands dispense.2

Now, Reader, if thou wouldst be further satisfied in his
distaste of Black Magic, I wish thee to read his most
Christian invective against the German conjurer entertained
in the French court. Nay, so zealous and nice of con¬
science was he that being solicited by some divines for a
comment on Trismegistus he returned them a very tart
answer, referring all true knowledge to the Scripture. In
a word, he did not only hate impious but vain arts, for he

1 Vivens quern cernis Tumulum , ne forte meretur
Os placidum, stygii Rex fuit iste lacus.

Quare etiam custodem habuit , dum viveret , Orci,

Cut nunc in tenebris prceda daret comitem .

As t kic, si ingenium moderari scisset, ad auras
Tantum esse t, quantum Tartara nigra subit.

2 Sic Agrippa ingens, duplici quoque sufjicit orbi,

Fractaque diversas fabrica monstrat opes.

Terram terra capit , cceloque affinia ccelum
Possidet. Hoc vivus scripserat ante sophos.

Naiuram Natura trahit ; similemque super nee
Hanc animam agnoscit vita superna suam.

Sic vivens , moriensque docet, dumque altus in astra
Tendit , habet magicas parca vel ipsa manus.

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

lost the favour of the Queen-Mother because he would
not be employed by her in astrology — a science in whose
true, natural part he was skilled to a miracle ; but he
knew it was bootless to look for fatal events in the planets,
for such are not written in Nature but in the Superior
Tables of Predestination. Having thus then sufficiently
proved his integrity, I will in a few words discover the
grounds of his persecution. He was a man reformed in
his religion ; and had 1 the leisure to cite his works I
could quickly prove he was not of the Roman Church.1
For in his book on The Vanity of the Sciences he allows not
of monks and friars but calls them sects, “ of which the
Church was free at its best ” ; 2 and certainly that notable
jest of his on the cowl nettles the papists to this day.3
He disclaims also their images, their invocation of saints,
their purgatory and pardons, and would have the laity
communicate “ in both kinds.” 4 He corrects the pope
himself sufficiently and is utterly against the Inquisition
Office. What also his opinion was of Luther is not hard
to guess out of his Epistles , for in a letter to Melanchthon
he hath these words : “ Salute for me that invincible
heretic Martin Luther, who — as Paul saith in the Acts —
doth serve His God according to that sect which they
term heretical.” 6 Lastly, he was altogether for the written
word, preferring it to human constitutions, which is con¬
trary to the papist, who will not allow it to be the judge
of controversies. This is the man and thus qualified at
home, howsoever the world hath rendered him abroad.

Now for his more mysterious principles : thou hast
their main in this discourse, which if thou canst appre-

1 See note on p. 50.

2 Quibus caruit Ecclesia cum. fuit optima .

3 The reference is presumably to c. 62 of The Vanity of Arts and
Sciences. It is a graphic picture and very severe criticism of monastic
orders. I do not know why it is termed a jest in the text above.

4 Sub utraque specie.

5 Salutabis per me invictum ilium hcereticion Martinum Lutherum ,
qui ( ut ait Paulus in Actibus) servit Deo suo secundum sect am quam
vocant Hceresin. The reference is to ACTS, xxiv, 14.

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Anima Magica Abscondita

hend I know thou wilt style him in particular — as
Trismegistus doth man in general — “ a manifested
god” or as Panaetius did his Plato, “the most divine,
most holy, most wise man and the Homer of philosophers.” 2
But this sluttish struggle fits not his memory and things
fall from me now as strictures, not compositions. I shall
say nothing more but leave thee to thy studies, whiles
I translate that epitaph of Platina to his Tomus 6.

Whoe’er thou art, if piously inclined,

Seek not the dead Agrippa to molest,

Nor what with him lies narrowly enshrined
And only asks to be alone in rest.3

Eugenius Philalethes.

1 &cbv dparou.

2 Hominem divinum , sanctissimumy sapientissimum et Homerum
'bhilosophoru m .

3 Quisquis es, si pius , Agrippam

Et suos ne vexes : anguste
Jacent , et soli volunt esse.

\

71

ANIMA MAGICA ABSCONDITA

To build castles in the air is a common proverb with all
men but a common practice with the Peripatetics only.
I have oftentimes admired that the very end and result
of their philosophy did not clearly discover its falsity.
It is a mere help to discourse. Mood and figure are
their two pillars, their limits.1 Their heptarchy ends in
a syllogism and the best professor amongst them is but
a scold well disciplined. Their seven years study are
seven years of famine ; they leave the soul not satisfied
and are more of a dream than that of Pharaoh.2 For
verily if the stage and reign of dreams be nowhere be¬
yond fancy, then the fancies of these men being nowhere
beyond their authors may rest on the same pillow. This
sect then may be styled a “fellowship of dreams.” 3
Their conceptions are not grounded on any reason
existent in Nature, but they would ground Nature on
reasons framed and principled by their own conceptions.
Their philosophy is built on general, empty maxims,
things of that stretch and latitude they may be applied
to anything but conduce to the discovery of nothing.
These are the first lineaments of their monster, and in
reference to them they have many subordinate errors
which pretend a symmetry with their fundamentals but
in truth have none at all. These latter quillets are so
minced with divisions and distinctions that their very
patrons are dubious how to state them. I could compare
their physiology to a chase in arras, where there is much

2 Genesis, cap . xli. 3 a^os 6vupu>v.

72

1 Non ultra .

Anima Magica Abscondita

of similitude but nothing of truth. ’Tis the child of
fancy, a romance in syllogisms, a texture of their own
brain, like that cobweb campagna which Lucian’s spiders
planted betwixt the Moon and Venus. Nature in general
— say they — is “ a principle of motion and rest.”1 A
form is athe outward expression of an inward essence”2
— a definition they know not what to make of — and the
soul is actuality,3 or the “ active principle of the organic
body.” 4 These two last descriptions — for they are no
substantial definitions — are such riddles that I verily
believe Aristotle made use of those words X0709 and
evreXe^eia = form and actuality, because he would not
discover his ignorance in these points. For why should
a form be called Xo-yo?, or in what other author can we
find this evreXe-freia ? But because Nature in general,
that is, in her active and passive portions — namely, matter
and form — together with the soul of man, are the main
fundamentals whereon to build a philosophy, and that
this Aristotle is so sainted by his clients that the divines
of Collein tell us he was cc precursor of Christ in things
natural as John Baptist was in things of grace,” 5 I shall
further examine these his definitions and acknowledge
the benefit when I find it.

In the first place then, it may be thought I am beholden
to this man for telling me that Nature is a principle. So
I may tell the reader that the magician’s passive spirit is
a principle ; but if I tell him not what kind of substance
it is I will allow him ten years of study, and if the sun
went back every day ten degrees in his dial he shall not
— without a supernatural assistance — know what or where
it is. But you will reply : he tells me further it is a
principle causeth bodies to move and rest. I thank him
for his nothing. I desire not to know what this principle
doth — for that is obvious to every eye — but I would

1 Principium motas et quietis. 2 Abyos rrjs ovcrlas.

3 ’EvreAexeia. 4 Actus corporis organ! ci.

5 Precursor Christi in naturalibus , ut Johannes Baptista in gratuitis.

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The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

know what it is ; and therefore he may pocket his defini¬
tion. Again, you will object : he tells me not only that
Nature is a principle but that “ Nature is form ” 1 and by
consequence “ Form is Nature.”2 This is idem per idem :
he retains me in a circle of notions but resolves nothing
at all essentially. Besides form — in the genuine scope of
the language — signifies the outward symmetry or shape
of a compound.3 But the Peripatetics — who impose on
tongues as they do on Nature — render it otherwise in
their books and mistake the effect for the cause. I shall
therefore take it in their sense and be content for once to
subscribe to their comments. Form then in their concep¬
tion is the same with Sum/uu? irXacrriKr} or formative power,4
which Aristotle defines as the “ outward expression of an
inward essence.” I must confess I do not understand
him and therefore I shall take him upon trust, as his
disciples expound him. “ It is \6yog ” — saith Magirus —
“ inasmuch as it doth perfect, adorn and fashion the
natural thing, so that one may thereby be distinguished
from another.” 5 This is an express of the office and
effect of forms but nothing at all to their substance or
essence.

Now let us see what he saith to the soul of man. The
soul — saith he — is actuality, that is, in plain terms, the
sum total,6 or barbarously but truly finihabia , though his
own followers falsely render it cc active principle of organic
body.”7 But this definition is common to beasts and
plants, and therefore he hath stumbled on another : “ The
soul is that principle by which we live, feel, move and

1 Natura est forma. 2 Forma est Natura.

3 According to St Thomas Aquinas, the head and crown of scholastic
philosophy, that which is signified by the term form is the perfection of

each thing individually, its peculiar determining principle. Per formam
significatur perfectio uniuscujusque rei. — De Ente et Essentia, cap. 7.

4 Vis formatrix.

5 Est enim \6yos, quoniam absolvit , expolit et informat rem naturalem ,
ui per earn una ab altera distinguatur .

6 Consummatio.

7 Actus corporis organici.

74

Anima Magica Abscondita

understand.” 1 Now, both these descriptions concern
only the operations and faculties which the soul exerciseth
in the body but discover not her nature or original at all.
It was ingenuously done of Galen, who confessed his
ignorance concerning the substance of the soul ; but this
fellow — who had not so much honesty — is voiced Prince
of Philosophers and the positions of more glorious authors
are examined by his dictates, as it were by a touchstone.
Nay, the Scripture itself is oftentimes wrested and forced
by his disciples to vote a placet to his conclusions. It is
a miserable task to dwell on this ethnic, to gather his
straw and stubble most of our days and after all to be
no better acquainted with ourselves but that the soul is
the course of life, sense, motion and understanding. I
pity our customary follies that we bind ourselves over
to a prenticeship of expense and study, only to compass
a few superficial truths which every ploughman knows
without book. Verily, Nature is so much a tutor that
none can be ignorant in these things ; for who is so stupid
as not to know the difference between life and death, the
absence and presence of his soul ? Yet these very defini¬
tions — though looked upon as rare, profound, philo¬
sophical determinations — instruct us in nothing more.

Away then with this Peripatetical Philosophy, this vain
babbling, as St Paul justly styles it,2 for sure enough he
had some experience of it at Athens in his dispute about
the resurrection. Let us no more look on this olla podrida
but on that spirit which resides in the elements, for this
produceth real effects by the subsequent rotations of
corruption and generation ; but the spirit of error — which
is Aristotle’s — produceth nought but a multiplicity of
notions. Observe then that this Stagyrite and Nature
are at a great distance : the one ends in works, the other
in words. His followers refine the old notions but not
the old creatures. And verily the mystery of their pro-

1 Anima est principium quo vivimus , movemur et intelligimus.

2 I Timothy, vi, 20, and II ibid., ii, 16.

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fession consists only in their terms. If their speculations
were exposed to the world in a plain dress, their sense is
so empty and shallow there is not any would acknowledge
them for philosophers. In some discourses, I confess,
they have Nature before them, but they go not the right
way to apprehend her. They are still in chase but never
overtake their game ; for who is he amongst them whose
knowledge is so entire and regular that he can justify his
positions by practice ? Again, in some things they are
quite beside the cushion ; they scold and squabble about
whimsies and problems of their own which are no more
in Nature than Lucian’s Lachanopters or Hyppogypians.

Now, the reason of their errors is because they are
experienced in nothing but outward accidents or qualities,
and all the performance they can do in philosophy is to
pronounce a body hot or cold, moist or dry. But if they
mind the essential temperament they are grossly mis¬
taken in stating these qualifications, for it is not the
touch or sight that can discern intrinsical, true complexions.
A body that is outwardly cold to the sense may be hotter
in the inwardness,1 where the genuine temperament lies,
than the sun himself is manifestly.2 But they know not
the providence of Nature, how she interposeth a different
resisting quality in the circumference of everything, lest
the qualities of ambient bodies should conspire in too
great a measure with the centre and so procure a dissolu¬
tion of the compound. Thus she interposeth her passive,
refreshing spirit between the central fire and the Sulphur.
Again she placeth the Sulphur between the liquor of the
celestial Luna and her outward Mercury — a rare and
admirable texture, infallibly proving that none but God —
only wise — Who foresaw the conveniences and discon-
veniences of His creatures, could range them in that
saving order and connection.3 But to go further with

1 In occulto. 2 In manifesto.

3 Vaughan is beginning to speak of certain principles, ex hypothesi
universal in Nature, and more especially concerning two, denominated

76

Anima Magica Abscondita

these Peripatetics : their philosophy is a kind of physi¬
ognomy. They will judge of inward principles — forms,
as they call them — which are shut up in the closet of
the matter, and all this in perusing the outside or crust
of Nature. ’Twere a foolish presumption if a lapidary
should undertake to state the value or lustre of a jewel
that is locked up before he opens the cabinet. I advise
them therefore to use their hands, not their fancies, and
to change their abstractions into extractions ; for verily
as long as they lick the shell in this fashion and pierce
not experimentally into the centre of things they can do
no otherwise than they have done. They cannot know
things substantially but only describe them by their
outward effects and motions, which are subject and
obvious to every common eye. Let them consider
therefore that there is in Nature a certain spirit which
applies himself to the matter and actuates in every genera¬
tion. That there is also a passive intrinsical principle
where he is more immediately resident than in the rest,
and by mediation of which he communicates with the
more gross, material parts. For there is in Nature a
certain chain or subordinate propinquity of complexions
between visibles and invisibles ; and this is it by which
the superior, spiritual essences descend and converse here
below with the matter. But have a care lest you mis¬
conceive me. I speak not in this place of the Divine
Spirit, but I speak of a certain Art by which a particular
spirit may be united to the universal, and Nature by
consequence may be strangely exalted and multiplied.
Now then, you that have your eyes in your hearts and
not your hearts in your eyes, attend to that which is
spoken, and that I may exhort you to magic in the
magician’s phrase : “ Hear with the understanding of
the heart.” 1

Sulphur and Mercury, by which also they were known to alchemists, who
added Salt as a third, and regarded these three as the fundamentals of
their whole mystery. Salt is a subject of consideration in Euphrates.

1 Intellectu cordis andite.

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The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

It is obvious to all those whom Nature hath enriched
with sense and convenient organs to exercise it that
every body in the world is subject to a certain species
of motion. Animals have their progressive outward and
their vital inward motions. The heavens are carried
with that species which the Peripatetics call lation 1 — where,
by the way, I must tell you it proceeds from an intrinsical
principle, for intelligences are fabulous. The air moves
variously, the sea hath his flux and reflux. Vegetables
have their growth and augmentation, which necessarily
infer a concoction ; and finally, the earth — with her
minerals and all other treasures — is subject to alteration,
that is, to generation and corruption. Now, the matter
of itself being merely passive and furnished with no
motive faculty at all, we must of necessity conclude there
is some other inward principle which acts and regulates it
in every several species of motion. But verily it is not
enough to call this principle a form and so bury up the
riches of Nature in this narrow and most absurd formality.
We should rather abstain from scribbling or study to
publish that which may make something for the author’s
credit — but much more for the benefit of the readers.
To be plain then, this principle is the Soul of the World,2
or the Universal Spirit of Nature. This Soul is retained
in the matter by certain other proportionate natures and
missing a vent doth organise the mass.3 She labours
what she can to resume her former liberty, frames for
herself a habitation here in the centre, puts her prison
into some good order and brancheth into the several
members, that she may have more room to act and employ
her faculties. But you are to observe that in every frame

1 Latio in classical Latin signifies making or giving, as in Cicero,
legum latio , the making of laws. In late Latin it meant bearing or
carrying, the root being the past participle of fero , I bear. It will be
seen that Vaughan explains the word as referring in its Aristotelian use
to a principle of motion according to cosmic law. The Greek equivalent
is (popa .

2 Anima mundi. 3 Orga?iizare molem.

7^

Anima Magica Abscondita

there are three leading principles. The first is this Soul,
whereof we have spoken something already. The second
is that which we have called the Spirit of the World,1 and
this Spirit is “ the medium whereby the Soul is diffused
through and moves its body.”2 The third is a certain
oleous, ethereal water. This is the Menstruum and
Matrix of the world, for in it all things are framed and
preserved. The Soul is a compound cc of a most subtle
ether and most simple light.” 3 Hence that admirable
Platonical poet styled it “ fire of pure ether.” 4

Neither should you wonder that I say it is a compound,
for there is no perfect specifical nature that is simple and
void of composition but only that of God Almighty.5
Trust not then to Aristotle, who tells you that the
elements are simple bodies, for the contrary hath been
manifested by absolute, infallible experience. The passive-
spirit is a thin, aerial substance, the only immediate vest¬
ment wherein the Soul wraps herself when she descends
and applies to generation. The radical, vital liquor is a
pure celestial nature, answering in proportion and com¬
plexion to the superior, interstellar waters. Now, as soon
as the passive spirit attracts the Soul, which is done when
the first link in the chain moves — of which we shall speak
in its due place — then the ethereal water in a moment
attracts the passive spirit, for this is the first visible
receptacle, wherein the superior natures are concentrated.
The Soul being thus confined and imprisoned by lawful

1 Spiritus tnundi .

2 Medium per quod a?iima infunditur et movet suum corpus.

3 Ex aura tenuissima et luce simplicissima.

4 Aurai simplicis ignem. — Vergil.

5 This notion contradicts the doctrine of the human spirit in Christian
theology, according to which the soul is a spirit, being as such non-com¬
posite and indivisible. It is in contradiction also with mysticism, which
conceives union with God as the end of the soul’s being, and no union is
possible with beings that are fundamentally dissimilar. Finally, it is in
contradiction with Vaughan, according to whom the spirit of man is the
Spirit of God. It is fair to add that scholastic theology has its own
difficulties, postulating a certain duality in all created spirits, considered
as a compound of actuality and potentiality,

79

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

magic in this liquid crystal, the light which is in her
streams through the water, and then it is “ light made
openly visible to the eye,” 1 in which state it is first made
subject to the artist.

Here now lies the mystery of the magician’s denarius ,
his most secret and miraculous pyramid,2 whose first unity
or cone is always in “ the horizon of eternity,” 3 but his
basis or quadrate is here below in “ the horizon of time.” 4 *
The Soul consists of three portions of light and one of
the matter ; the passive spirit hath two parts of the matter
and two of the light, wherefore it is called the “ middle
nature” and the c< sphere of equality.”6 The celestial
water hath but one portion of light to three of the matter.
Now, the chain of descent which concerns the spiritual
parts is grounded on a similitude, or symbol of natures,
according to that principle of Ostanes : “ Nature is
charmed by Nature.”6 For there being three portions of
light in the Soul and two in the passive spirit, the inferior
attracts the superior. Then there being but one portion
in the celestial nature and two in the middle spirit, this
solitary shining unity attracts the other binarius , to fortify
and augment itself, as light joins with light or flame with
flame, and then they hang in a vital, magnetical series.
Again, the chain of ascent which concerns the matter is
performed thus. The celestial nature differs not in sub¬
stance from the aerial spirit but only in degree and com¬
plexion ; and the aerial spirit differs from the Aura , or
material part of the Soul, in constitution only and not in
nature ; so that these three, being but one substantially,

1 Lux manifesto visibilis ad oculum.

2 The cone = i + base = 2 + 4 basal angles = 6 + 4 sides of the pyramid = 10.

3 In horizonte ceternitatis. 4 In horizonte temporis.

6 Natura media et sphcera cequalitatis.

G 77 (pious rrj (pvcrei Tepirerai. There is a fragment of Ostanes on The
Sacred and Divine Art , addressed to Petasius, in the collection of
Byzantine alchemists. It does not contain the aphorism quoted by
Vaughan. It will be found, however, in the letter of pseudo-Synesius
to Dioscorus on the Book of Democritus. Analogous expressions recur
continually in the Greek alchemical texts.

80

Anima Magica Abscondita

may admit of a perfect, hypostatical union and be carried
by a certain intellectual light into “ the horizon of the
supercelestial world ” 1 and so swallowed up of immortality.

But, methinks, Nature complains of a prostitution, that
I go about to diminish her majesty, having almost broken
her seal and exposed her naked to the world. I must
confess 1 have gone very far and now I must recal myself ;
for there is a necessity of reserving as well as publishing
some things. And yet I will speak of greater matters.
The Soul though in some sense active yet is she not so
essentially but a mere instrumental agent ; for she is
guided in her operations by a spiritual, metaphysical grain,
a seed or glance of light, simple and without any mixture,
descending from the first Father of Lights. For though
H is full-eyed love shines on nothing but man, yet every¬
thing in the world is in some measure directed for his
preservation by a spice or touch of the First Intellect.
This is partly confirmed by the habitation and residence
of God ; for He is seated above all His creatures, to hatch
— as it were — and cherish them with living, eternal
influences which daily and hourly proceed from Him.
Hence he is called of the Kabalists Kether ,2 and it answers
to Parmenides his Fiery Crown,3 which he places above
all the visible spheres. This flux of immaterial powers
Christ Himself — in Whom the fulness of the Godhead
resided — confirmed and acknowledged in the flesh ; for
when the diseased touched His garment He questioned
who it was, adding this reason : u I perceive ” — said He
— “ that virtue is gone out of me.” 4

But laying aside such proofs, though the Scripture
abounds in them, let us consider the exercise and practice
of Nature here below, and we shall find her game such
she cannot play it without this tutor. In the first place

1 In horizonie mundi super-supremi.

2 Kether , or the Crown, is the first and highest Sephira or Numeration
in the Tree of Life in Kabalism.

3 Corona ignea . 4 St LUKE, ix, 46.

6

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then I would fain know who taught the spider his mathe¬
matics ? How comes he to lodge in the centre of his
web, that he may sally upon all occasions to any part of
the circumference ? How comes he to premeditate and
forecast ? For if he did not first know and imagine that
there are flies whereupon he must feed he would not
watch for them, nor spin out his nets in that exquisite
form and texture. Verily we must needs confess that
He Who ordained flies for his sustenance gave him also
some small light to know and execute His ordinance.
Tell me — if you can — who taught the hare to counter¬
march when she doubles her trace in the pursuit, to
confound the scent and puzzle her persecutors ? Who
counsels her to stride from the double to her form, that
her steps may be at a greater distance and by consequence
the more difficult to find out ? Certainly this is a well-
ordered policy, enough to prove that God is not absent
from His creatures but that “ wisdom reacheth from one
end to another mightily ” 1 and that “ His incorruptible
Spirit is in all things.” 2 But to speak something more
immediately apposite to our purpose : let us consider the
several products that are in Nature with their admirable
features and symmetry. We know very well there is
but one Matter out of which there are formed so many
different shapes and constitutions. Now, if the agent
which determinates and figures the Matter were not a
discerning spirit it were impossible for him to produce
anything at all. For let me suppose Hyliard3 with his
pencil and table ready to portray a rose, if he doth not
inwardly apprehend the very shape and proportion of
that which he intends to limn he may as well do it with¬
out his eyes as without his intellectuals. Let us now
apply this to the Spirit which worketh in Nature. This

1 Wisdom of Solomon, viii, i. 2 Ibid.,x ii, i.

3 A miniature painter and craftsman, 1537-1619. He was famous
in the days of Queen Elizabeth and was the engraver of her second
Great Seal.

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Anima Magic a Abscondita

moves in the centre of all things, hath the Matter before
Him as the potter hath his clay or the limner his colours.
And first of all He exerciseth His chemistry in several
transmutations, producing sinews, veins, blood, flesh and
bones, which work also includes His arithmetic, for He
makes the joints and all integral parts, nay — as Christ
tells us — the very hairs of our heads in a certain deter¬
minate number, which may conduce to the beauty and
motion of the frame. Again, in the outward lineaments
or symmetry of the compound He proves himself a most
regular mathematician, proportioning parts to parts, all
which operations can proceed from nothing but a Divine,
Intellectual Spirit. For if He had not several ideas or
conceptions correspondent to His several intentions He
could not distinguish the one from the other. And if
He were not sensible, if He did not foresee the work He
doth intend, then the end could be no impulsive cause —
as the Peripatetics would have it.

The consideration of these several offices which this
Spirit performs in generation made Aristotle himself
grant that in the seeds of all things there were “ potencies
like unto artifices.”1 We should therefore examine who
weaves the flowers of vegetables, who colours them with¬
out a pencil, who bolts the branches upwards and threads
— as it were — their roots downwards. For all these
actions include a certain artifice which cannot be done
without judgment and discretion. Now, our Saviour
tells us: £C My Father worketh hitherto”;2 and in
another place He tells us God clothes the lilies of the
field ; 3 and again “ not one sparrow falls without your
Father.” 4 Verily, this is the truth and the testimony
of truth, notwithstanding Aristotle and his Problems.
Neither should you think the Divine Spirit disparaged
in being president to every generation because some

1 Virtntes similes artificiis. 2 ST JOHN, v, 17.

3 St Matt., vi, 28, 29 : St Luke, xii, 27, 28.

4 St Matt., x, 29.

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The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

products seem poor and contemptible. For verily as
long as they conduce to the glory of their Author they
are noble enough ; and if you reflect upon Egypt you
will find the basest of His creatures to extort a catholic
confession from the wizards : “ the finger of God is
here.” 1 2

That I may come then to the point : these invisible,
central artists are lights seeded by the First Light in that
primitive emanation or Sit Lux , which some falsely render
Fiat Lux? For Nature is the Voice of God,3 not a mere
sound or command but a substantial, active breath, pro¬
ceeding from the Creator and penetrating all things.
God Himself is “a spermatic form,” 4 and this is the only
sense wherein a form may be defined as “ the outward
expression of an inward essence.”5 I know this will
seem harsh to some men, whose ignorant zeal hath made
them adversaries to God, for they rob Him of His glory
and give it to His creature — nay, sometimes to fancies
and inventions of their own. I wish such philosophers
to consider whether in the beginning there was any life
or wisdom beyond the Creator, and if so to tell us where.
Verily — to use their own term — they can never find
this Ubi. For they are gracious concessions or talents
which God of His free will hath lent us ; and if He
should resume them we should presently return to our
first nothing. Let them take heed therefore— -whiles they
attribute generation to qualities — lest the true Author of
it should come against them with that charge which He
brought sometime against the Assyrians. cc Shall the ax
boast itself against him that heweth therewith ? Or shall
the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it ? As
if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up,

1 Digitus Dei est hie. — EXODUS, viii, 19. Vaughan is quoting from
the Vulgate.

2 See ante , p. 16, in the quotation from Georgius Venetus. The
Vulgate gives Fiat Lux.

3 Qcav)] tov 0eoO. 4 A .<5yos (TTrep/xaTXKbs.

5 See ante , p. 73.

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Anima Magica Abscondita

or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no
wood.” 1 Let them rather cashier their Aristotle and the
errors wherewith he hath infatuated so many generations.
Let them approach with confidence to the Almighty God
Who made the world, for none can give a better account
of the work than the Architect. Let them not despair to
attain His familiarity, for He is a God that desires to be
known and will reveal Himself, both for the manifesta¬
tion of His own glory and the benefit of His creatures.
There is no reason then why we should decline this great
and glorious Schoolmaster, Whose very invitation speaks
more than an ordinary encouragement. “ Thus saith the
Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker : Ask me
of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning
the work of my hands command ye me. I have made
the earth, and created man upon it : I, even my hands,
have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have
I commanded.” 2 But it will be questioned perhaps : how
shall we approach to the Lord and by what means may
we find Him out ? Truly not with words but with works,
not in studying ignorant, heathenish authors but in per¬
using and trying His creatures. For in them lies His
secret path, which though it be shut up with thorns and
briars, with outward worldly corruptions, yet if we would
take the pains to remove this luggage we might enter
the Terrestrial Paradise, that Encompassed Garden3 of
Solomon, where God descends to walk and drink of the
Sealed Fountain. But verily there is such a general
prejudice, such a customary opposition of all principles
which cross Aristotle that Truth can no sooner step abroad
but some sophister or other flings dirt in her face.

It is strange that none of these schoolmen consider how
the several distinctions and divisions translated from logic
to divinity have set all Christendom on fire, how they
have violated the peace of many flourishing kingdoms

1 Isaiah, x, 15. 2 Ibid., xlv, 11, 12.

3 Hortus conchcsus. — Song of Solomon, iv, 12, following the Vulgate.

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and occasioned more sects in religion than there are
opinions in philosophy. Most seasonable then and
Christian is that petition of St Augustine : “ Deliver us,
O Lord, from logic.”1 And here I must desire the
reader not to mistake me. I do not condemn the use
but the abuse of reason, the many subtleties and fetches
of it, which man hath so applied that truth and error are
equally disputable. I am one that stands up for a true
natural knowledge, grounded — as Nature is — on Christ
Jesus, Who is the true foundation of all things — visible
and invisible. I shall therefore in this discourse touch
nearly upon those mysteries which some few have de¬
livered over to posterity in difficult, obscure terms, that
if possible the majesty of truth and the benefit they shall
receive from it may settle men in a new way and bring
them at last from vain, empty fancies to a real, sensible
fruition of Nature.

You may remember how, in my former discourse of
the nature of man, I mentioned a certain simplicity of
elements according to their several complexions in the
several regions of the world. I shall now speak of
another triplicity — much more obscure and mystical — -
without which you can never attain to the former, for
these three principles are the key of all magic, without
whose perfect knowledge you can never truly understand
the least idioms in Nature. The first principle is one in
one and one from one.2 It is a pure, white virgin and
next to that which is most pure and simple. This is the
First Created Unity, By this all things were made — not
actually but mediately — and without this nothing can be
made, either artificial or natural. This is “ Bride of God
and of the Stars. ”3 By mediation of this there is a

1 A logica libera nos , Domine . Assuredly the scholastics must have
“ made mouths ” at the speech.

2 The analogue is Shekinah in the great theosophy of the Zohar, as
the denomination Uxor vel Sponsa indicates. The analogue in alchemy
is Salt.

3 Uxor Dei et stellaruml\

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Anima Magica Abscondita

descent from one into four and an ascent from above by
four to the invisible, supernatural Monad. Who knows
not this can never attain to the Art, for he knows not
what he is to look for.

The Second Principle differs not from the first in
substance and dignity but in complexion and order.
This second was the first and is so still essentially ; but
by adhesion to the matter it contracted an impurity and
so fell from its first unity, wherefore the magicians style
it Binarius } Separate therefore the circumference from
the centre by the diametrical line,2 and there will appear
unto thee the philosopher’s Ternarius , which is the Third
Principle. This third is properly no principle but a
product of Art. It is a various nature, compounded in
one sense and decompounded in another, consisting of
inferior and superior powers. This is the magician’s fire,
this is Mercury of the philosophers, that most famous
Microcosm and Adam.3 This is the labyrinth and wild
of magic, where a world of students have lost themselves
— a thing so confusedly and obscurely handled by such
as knew it that it is altogether impossible to find it in
their records. There is no late writer understands the
full latitude and universality of this principle, nor the
genuine metaphysical use thereof. It moves here below
in shades and tiffanies, above in white ethereal vestures ;
neither is there anything in Nature exposed to such a
public prostitution as this is, for it passeth through all
hands and there is not any creature but hath the use
thereof.

This Ternarius , being reduced by the Quaternary,

1 This is Sophie Sulphur.

2 Per lineam diametralem. I must confess that this symbolism con¬
founds the reason. A vertical line drawn through a circle does not in
known geometry separate the circumference from the centre.

3 Mercurius Philosophorum , celeb err imus ille Microcosmus et Adam.
The name Adam in alchemy sometimes signifies Sulphur, sometimes
Mercury and sometimes the Magistery in its perfect red state. Micro¬
cosm is a general term given to the Magistery at any stage. It does
not seem to have signified Sophie Mercury.

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ascends to the magical decad, which is “ the exceeding
single Monad,” 1 in which state whatsoever things it may
will those also it can do,2 for it is united then, face to
face,3 to the First, Eternal, Spiritual Unity. But of
these three hear the oracle of magic, the great and solemn
Agrippa.4 u There are then — as we have said — four
elements, without a perfect knowledge of which nothing
can be brought to its effect in magic. But each of them
is threefold, that so the number four may make up the
number twelve and, by passing the number seven into
the number ten, there may be progress to the Supreme
Unity, whence all virtue flows, and on which all wonder-

1 Monas unitissima. 2 Qucecunque vult , potest.

3 Per aspectum.

4 Quatuor itaque quce diximus sunt elementa, siite quorum notitid
perfectd nullum in Magia producere possumus effectum. Sunt autem
singula triplicia , ut sic (Quaternarius compleat Duodenarium , et per
Septenarium i?i Denarium progrediens ad Supremam Unitatem , unde
omnis virtus et mirabilis operatio dependet , fiat progressus. Primo
igitur ordine elementa pura sunt , quce nec componuntur , nec mutantur ,
nec patiuntur commixtionem , sed incorruptibilia sunt, et non a quibus
sed per quce omnium naturalium rerum virtutes producuntur in effectum.
Virtutes illorum a nullo explicari possunt, quia in omnia possunt omnia.
Hcec qui ignorat ad nullam mirabilium epfectuum operationem pertingere
potest. Secundi ordinis elementa composita sunt , multiplicia et varia,
et impu?'a, reducibilia tamen per ariem ad puram simplicitatem, quibus
tunc ad suam simplicitatem reversis virtus est super omnia comple-
mentum , dans omnium operationem occultarum et operationem natures.
Hcec sunt fundamentum totius magice naturalis. Tertii ordinis elementa ,
hcec primo et per se non sunt elementa sed decomposita varia , multiplicia,
et inter se invicem permutabilia. Ipsa sunt infallibile medium, ideoque
vocantur media natura, sive atiima medice natures. Paucissimi sunt
qui illorum profunda mysteria intelligunt. In ipsis per certos numeros,
gradus, et ordines est consummatio omnis effectus hi quacunque re
naturali , ccelesti et superccelesti. Miranda sunt et plena mysteriis quce
operari possunt in magia, tarn naturali quam divina. Per ipsa enim
omnium rerum ligationes , etiam solutiones, et transmutationes, et
futurorum cognitio et p7'cedictio, etiam malo7'um deemonum exterminatio
et bonoru77i spirituum conciliatio ab illis descendit. Sine his igitur
triplicibus elementis, eorundemque cognitione, ne7no confidat se i7t occultis
magice et natures scientiis quicquam posse operari. Quicunque autem
hcec in ilia, i7npura in pura, multiplicia in simplicia re due ere noverit,
eorundemque naturam, virtutem, potestatem in numero, gradibus et
ordine, sine divisione substantice discernere sciverit, is facile obtinebit
omnium naturalium rerum et ccelestiu77i secretorum sciefitiam et opera-
tio7ie77i perfecta7n.—-V)K Occulta Philosophia, Lib. i, c. 4.

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Anima Magica Abscondita

ful operation depends. In the first order are the pure
elements, which are neither compounded nor changed,
which suffer no mixture but are incorruptible. The
virtues of all natural things are brought into activity
through and not by these. No one is able to declare
their virtues, for in all things they can do all things. He
who is ignorant concerning them can never bring to pass
the operation of marvellous effects. Of the second order
are elements that are composite, manifold, various and
withal impure, though reducible by art to a pure sim¬
plicity, whose virtue — when they are so reduced— doth
above all things perfect all occult and other operations
of Nature. These are the foundation of all natural
magic. As regards the third order of elements, originally
and of themselves they are not elements in reality, being
twice compounded and changeable one with the other.
These are the infallible medium, whence they are called
the middle nature, or soul of the middle nature. Verv
few are they who understand the deep mysteries thereof.
By means of certain numbers, degrees and orders, herein
lies the consummation of every effect in all things natural,
celestial and supercelestial. They are full of wonders
and mysteries which can be performed alike in natural
and divine magic. Thence proceed the bindings, loosings
and transmutations of all things, the knowledge and
foretelling of things to come, with the exorcism of evil
and the conciliation of good spirits. Without these three
kinds of elements and the knowledge thereof, let no man
deem himself competent to work in the secret sciences
of magic and of Nature. But whoever shall know how
to reduce those which are of one kind into those of
another, the impure into pure, compounded into simple,
and shall understand distinctly their nature, virtue and
power in number, grades and order — without dividing
the substance — the same shall attain easily to the know¬
ledge and perfect fulfilment of all natural things and of
all celestial secrets/’

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The IV orks of Thomas V aughan

This is he with the black spaniel, or rather, this is he
“ who even from his earliest age did ever appear as an
inquiring and intrepid investigator into the abounding
operations of things mysterious and of miraculous
effects.”1 Now for your further instruction hear also
the dark disciple of the more dark Libanius Gallus.
“ The First Principle 2 doth consist in an unity, and

1 Qui ab ineunte cetate semper circa mirabilium ejfectuum , et plenas
mysteriorum operationes , curiosus intrepidusque extitit explorator.

2 Primum principium in it?io consistit , non a quo sed per quod omnis
mira?idorum naturalium virtus producitur in effectum. Per quod
diximus , quia purum ab uno procedens non componitur , neque mutatur.
Ad ipsum a ternario et quaternario fit ad Monadem pi'ogressus, ut com-
pleatur denarius. Per ipsum enim est numeri regressus ad unum , simul
descensus in quatuor et ascensus in Monadem. Impossibile est compleri
denarium , nisi per ipsum. Monas in triade Iceta convertitur. Omnes
hoc principium post principium Monadis ignorantes nil in ternario pro-
ficiunt , nec ad sacrum quaternarium pertingunt. Nam etsi sapientum
libros omnes habeant , sy derum cursus , virtutes , potestates , operationes et
proprietates perfecte cognoscant , ipsorumque imagines , annulos et sigilla,
et secretissima quceque ad plenmnintelligant, nullum tamen mirandorum
cons e qui posse7it in suis operationibus effectum , sine hujus principii a
principio cognitione , in principium. Unde omnes quotquot vidi in magia
naturali oper antes aut nihil consecuti sunt , aut advana,frivola et super-
stitiosa , post longas et inutiles operationes desperatione prolapsi sunt.
Principium vero secundmn or dine, non dignitate , quidem a primo
separatum , quod unum existens facit ternarium , est quod operatur
miranda per binarium. In uno est enim unum , et non est unum , est
simplex et in quaternio componitur , quo purificato per ignem in sola
aqua pur a egreditur et ipsum , ad suam simplicitatem reversum , comple-
mentum operanti monstrabit occultorum. Hie centrum est totius magice
naturalis , cujus circumferentia sibi unita circulum repreesentat , im-
mensus ordo in infi7iitum. Virtus ejus super omnia purificata , et
simplex minor omnibus , quaternio super gradu composita. Quaternarius
autem Pythagoricus numerus ternario sujfultus , si ordinem gradumque
observat, purificatus, purusque in uno , ad binarium in ternario miranda
et occulta Naturae operari potest. Hie est quaternarius in cujus mensura
ternarius binario conjunctus in uno cuncta facit , quae mirabiliter facit.
Ternarius ad unitatem reductus per aspectum omnia in se continet , et
quee vult potest. Principiu7n tertiu7n per se non est principium, sed inter
ipsum et binarium est finis 07nnis scientice et artis mysticce , ac infallibile
7nedii centrum, hi alio quam in ipso facilius non erratur, quoniam
paucissimi vivunt in terris qui profunda ejus intelligant. Varium est
compositum, et per septenarium in ternarium octies multiplicatum con-
surgens et mane7is fixum. In ipso est consuimnatio Nuineri graduwn et
ordinis. Per hoc 07nnes philosophi, occultorum natures veri inquisitores
mirabiles ejfectus consecuti sunt; per ipsum ad simplex elementum
in ternario re due turn subito fiunt infirmitatum curce miraculosce et

9°

Anima Magica Abscondita

I through rather than from this is all power of natural
wonders carried into effect. We have said ‘ through
which ’ because the pure ens , which proceedeth out of
unity, is not compounded, neither hath it any vicissitude.
Thereunto, from the triad and the tetrad is a progression
i unto the Monad, for the completion of the denary,

1 because thereby is a regression of number into unity, as
also a descent unto the tetrad and an ascension unto the
\ Monad. Hereby only can the duad be completed.
With joy and triumph is the Monad converted into the
triad. Those who are ignorant of this principle, which
is after the Principle of the Monad, cannot attain unto
the triad nor approach the sacred tetrad. Had they
mastered all the books of the wise, were they conversant
with the courses of the stars, did they clearly understand
their virtues, powers, operations and properties, their
types, rings, sigils and their most secret things whatsoever,
no working of wonders could possibly follow their opera¬
tions without a knowledge of this Principle, which cometh
out of a principle and returneth into a principle. Hence
all — without exception — whom 1 have found experiment¬
ing in natural magic have either attained nothing or,
after long and barren operations, have been reduced in
desperation to vain, trivial and superstitious pursuits.
Now, the second principle, which is separated from the
first in order but not in dignity, which alone existing

naturaliter omnium cegritudinum ; opusque in magia nahirali et prceter-
naturali operantis consequitur effectum per dispositionem quaternarii.
Prcedictio futurorumperipsum verificatur , occultorumque insinuation non
aliunde quam per ip sum a natura percipitur. Hoc unico medio secretum
naturce ape?'itur alchemistis , sine quo nec intellectus artis acquiritur,
nec operationis effectus invenitur. Errant , crede ?nihi , errant omnes , qui
sine istis tribus principiis quicquam operari in occultis naturce scientiis
se posse confidunt. — Trithemius is far famed in the records of occult
history. Here it is sufficient to say that he was Torn about 1462 and
died in 1516. Agrippa and Paracelsus were both influenced by him, at
least in their early life. Libanius Gallus is, however, a dark star in all
respects. I have no particulars concerning him. There was a later
Georgius Libanus, 1490-1550, who was an editor of Greek texts and an
advocate of Greek studies.

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doth produce the triad, is that which works wonders by
the duad. For in the one is the one and there is not the
one ; it is simple, yet in the tetrad it is compounded,
which being purified by fire cometh forth pure water,
and being reduced to its simplicity shall reveal unto the
worker of secret mysteries the fulfilment of his labours.
Here lieth the centre of all natural magic, the circum¬
ference of which thereunto united doth display a circle,
a vast order in the infinite. Its virtue is purified above
all things and less simple than all things, being composed
on the grade of the tetrad. But the Pythagoric tetrad,
supported by the triad, the pure and purified in one, can
— if order and grade be observed — perform marvellous and
secret things of Nature, to the measure of the duad in
the triad. This is the tetrad in the measure whereof the
triad, joined to the duad, maketh all things one, after a
marvellous fashion. The triad reduced to unity contains
all things face to face within it, and it doeth that which it
will. The third principle is of itself no principle, but
between this and the duad is the end of all science and
mystic art, and the infallible centre of the medial principle.
It is not less easy to blunder in the one than the other,
for few there are on earth who understand the depths
thereof. It is of inconstant nature, rising by an eight¬
fold multiplication through the septenary into the triad
and then remaining fixed. Herein is the consummation
of the scales and order of number. By this hath every
philosopher and true scrutator of natural secrets attained
unto admirable results ; by this, reduced in the triad unto
a simple element, they rapidly performed miraculous cures
of diseases and of all manners of sickness naturally ; and
achievement in natural and supernatural magic followed
the procedure of working through the direction of the
tetrad. By this the prediction of future events was
verified, and no otherwise is the penetration of hidden
things to be learned from Nature. By this one medium
is the secret of Nature laid bare unto alchemists ; without

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Anima Magica Abscondita

it no understanding of the Art can be attained, nor the
term of experiment discovered. Believe me, they all err
who, devoid of these three principles, dream it possible
to accomplish anything in the secret sciences of Nature.”

Thus far Trithemius, where — for thy better under¬
standing — I must inform thee there is a twofold Binarius
— one of light and one of confusion.1 But peruse Agrippa
seriously De Scalis Numerorum, and thou mayest
apprehend all, for our Abbot borrowed this language from
him, the perusal of whose book he had before he published
anything in this nature of his own.2 Now for thy further
instruction go along with me, not to Athens or Stagyra
but to that secretary and penman of God Almighty who
stood in a cleft of the rock when He made all His good¬
ness to pass before him.3 I am certain the world will
wonder 1 should make use of Scripture to establish
physiology ; but I would have them know that all secrets
— physical and spiritual, all the close connections and that
mysterious kiss of God and Nature — are clearly and
punctually discovered there. Consider that merciful
mystery of the Incarnation, wherein the fulness of the
Godhead was incorporated and the Divine Light united
to the Matter in a far greater measure than at the first
creation. Consider it— I say- — and thou shalt find that
no philosophy hath perfectly united God to His creature
but the Christian, wherefore also it is the only true philo¬
sophy and the only true religion ; for without this union
there can be neither a natural temporal nor a spiritual
eternal life. And Moses tells us that in the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth— that is, the Virgin
Mercury and the Virgin Sulphur. Nov/ let me advise

1 See ante : the reason is that it is the number of division as well as
of charity, of divorce as well as marriage, of evil as well as good, and
in particular of matter. — De OCCULTA Philosophia, Lib . ii, cap. 5.

2 It is more probable that Trithemius drew from the same sources as
Cornelius Agrippa. It may be added that the former was an original
thinker, whereas the latter in his Three Books appears chiefly as a
compiler.

3 Exodus, xxxiii, 19-23.

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The JV orks of Th omas V aughan

you not to trouble yourselves with this Mercury unless
you have a true friend to instruct you or an express
illumination from the first Author of it, for it is a thing
attained “ by a wonderful Art.” 1 Observe then what I
shall now tell you.

There is in every star and in this elemental world a
certain principle which is “ the Bride of the Sun.” 2
These two in their coition do emit semen,3 * which seed is
carried in the womb of Nature. But the ejection of it
is performed invisibly and in a sacred silence, for this is
the conjugal mystery of heaven and earth, their act of
generation, a thing done in private between particular
males and females ; but how much more — think you —
between the two universal natures ? Know therefore that
it is impossible for you to extract or receive any seed from
the sun without this feminine principle, which is the Wife
of the Sun. Now then, my small sophisters of the Stone,
you that consume your time and substance in making
waters and oils with a dirty caput raortuum ; 4 you that
deal in gold and quicksilver, being infatuated with the
legends of some late and former mountebanks : consider
the last end of such men. Did they obtain anything by
it but diseases and poverty ? Did they not in their old
age — “ greybeards of an evil time ” 5 — fall to clipping and
counterfeiting of coin ? And for a period to their
memory did they not die in despair, which is the child of
ignorance ? Know then for certain that the magician’s
sun and moon are two universal peers, male and female,
a king and queen regents, always young and never old.
These two are adequate to the whole world and co-ex-
tended through the universe. The one is not without
the other, God having united them in His work of creation

1 Arte mirabili . - 2 Uxor Solis.

3 E mitt ere semen.

4 Ca-fnt Mortuum is the technical term in Alchemy for the faeces left
in the cucurbite or retort after distillation or sublimation : A. J. Pernety,

Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique, p. 289, s.v. Teie Morte.

5 Inveterati dierum malorutn.

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Anima Magica Abscondita

in a solemn, sacramental union. It will then be a hard
and difficult enterprise to rob the husband of his wife, to
part those asunder whom God Himself hath put together,
for they sleep both in the same bed and he that discovers
the one must needs see the other. The love betwixt
these two is so great that if you use this virgin kindly
she will fetch back her Cupid after he hath ascended from
her in wings of fire.

Observe, moreover, that material principles can be
multiplied but materially, that is, by addition of parts, as
you see in the augmentation of bodies, which is per¬
formed by a continual assumption of nutriment into the
stomach. But it is not the body that transmutes the
nutriment into flesh and blood but that spirit which is
the life and light of the body. Material principles are
passive and can neither alter nor purify, but well may
they be altered and purified. Neither can they com¬
municate themselves to another substance beyond their
own extension, which is finite and determinate. Trust
not those impostors then who tell you of a Tingeing
Sulphur 1 and I know not what fables, who pin also that
new and narrow name of Chemia on a science both ancient
and infinite. It is the light only that can be truly multi¬
plied, for this ascends to and descends from the first
fountain of multiplication and generation. This light
applied to any body whatsoever exalts and perfects it after
its own kind : 2 if to animals, it exalts animals ; 3 if to
vegetables, vegetables ; if to minerals, it refines minerals
and translates them from the worst to the best condition.
Where note by the way that every body hath passive

1 The whole of this paragraph is most important for the spiritual
analogies which Vaughan recognised as hidden in his cosmic reveries.
It is unfortunate that — as in his life and work so in his later writings — he
forgot so frequently that the “science both ancient and infinite” into
which he looks here could not be a science of physics.

2 In suo genere.

3 The proposition is that there is an inward, essential truth, here
denominated light, and that it transmutes everything, after its proper kind,
from the worst to the best state, on which see my Introduction.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

principles in itself for this light to work upon and there¬
fore needs not borrow any from gold or silver. Consider
then what it is you search for, you that hunt after the
Philosopher’s Stone, for “ it is his to transmute who
creates.”1 You seek for that which is most high but you
look on that which is most low. Two things there are
which every good Christian may and ought to look after
— the true and the necessary. Truth is the arcanum, the
mystery and essence of all things ; for every secret is
truth and every substantial truth is a secret. I speak
not here of outward, historical truths — which are but
relatives to actions — but I speak of an inward, essential
truth, which is light : for light is the truth, and it dis¬
covers falsehood, which is darkness. By this truth all
that which is necessary may be compassed, but never
without it.

u I preferred wisdom ” — said the wise king— “before
sceptres and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in
comparison of her.2 Neither compared I unto her any
precious stone, because all gold in respect of her is as a
little sand, and silver shall be counted as clay before her.
I loved her above health and beauty, and chose to have
her instead of light : for the light that cometh from her
never goeth out. All good things together came to me
with her, and innumerable riches in her hands. And I
rejoiced in them all, because wisdom goeth before them :
and I knew not that she was the mother of them. If
riches be a possession to be desired in this life ; what is
richer than wisdom that worketh all things?3 For she
is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God, and
a lover of His works.4 God hath granted me to speak
as I would, and to conceive as is meet for the things that
are given me : because it is He that leadeth unto wisdom,
and directeth the wise.5 For in His hand are both we

1 Ejusdem est transmutare cnjas est crcare.

2 Wisdom of Solomon, vii, 10-12. 3 Ibid., viii, 5.

4 Ibid., viii, 4. 5 Ibid., vii, 15, and so forward to v. 30.

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Anima Magica Abscondita

and our words ; all wisdom also, and knowledge of
workmanship. For he hath given me certain knowledge
of the things that are, namely, to know how the world
was made, and the operation of the elements : the begin¬
ning, ending and midst of the times : the alterations of
the turning of the sun, and the change of seasons : the
circuit of years, and the positions of stars : the natures of
living creatures, and the furies of wild beasts : the violence
of winds, and the reasonings of man : the diversities of
plants, and the virtues of roots : and all such things as
are either secret or manifest, them I know. For wisdom,
which is the worker of all things, taught me : for in her
is an understanding spirit, holy, one only,1 manifold,
subtle, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt,
loving the thing that is good, quick,' which cannot be
letted, ready to do good, kind to man, steadfast, sure,
free from care, having all power, overseeing all things,
and going through all understanding, pure, and most
subtle spirits. For wisdom is more moving than any
motion : she passeth and goeth through all things by
reason of her pureness. For she is the breath of the
power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the
glory of the Almighty : therefore can no defiled thing
fall into her. For she is the brightness of the everlasting
light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the
image of His goodness. And being but one, she can do
all things : and remaining in herself, she maketh all things
new : and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh
them friends of God, and prophets. For God loveth none
but him that dwelleth with wisdom. For she is more
beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the
stars : being compared with the light, she is found before
it. For after this cometh night : but vice shall not pre¬
vail against wisdom.”

1 The Vulgate says : Artifex docuit me sapientia , and this is the
Srjuiovpybs or rexArirjs. The “ one only” or unicus of the Vulgate is literally
the only begotten. This Artifex in the Zohar is called Shekinah, who is

97 7

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Thus Solomon ; and again a greater than Solomon :
“ Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteous¬
ness ; and all these things shall be added unto you.” 1
For, of a truth, temporal blessings are but ushers to the
spiritual, or — to speak more plainly — when once we begin
to love the Spirit then He sends us these things as tokens
and pledges of His love ; “ for promotion comes neither
from the East nor from the West,”2 but from God that
giveth it.

“ The state of true being ” — saith one 3 — <c is that from

with God in Kether but is brought forth into Binah or understanding.
But because of the superincession of the three Divine Hypostases in
Kabalism she is frequently identified with Chokmah or Wisdom.

1 St Matt., vi, 33. 2 Ps., lxxv, 6.

3 Venim est esse , a quo nihil abesse , cuique nihil adesse, multoque minus
obesse potest . Necessarium id omne , quo carer e non possumus. Veritas
itaque summa virtus est ac inexp ug nabile castrum, paucissimis inhceren-
tibus amicis , at innumeris obsessum inimicis , paulo minus quam toti
mundo nunc invisum , sed insuperabile pignus iis qui possident illud.
Hac in arce verus et indubitatus philosophorum lapis et thesaurus con-
tinetur , qui non erosus a tineis , nec perfossus a furibus ?nanetin ceternum ,
cceteris dissolutis omnibus , multis in ruinam positus , a l iis ad salutem.
Hcec est res vulgo vilissima , spreta plurimum et ex os a, ?ion tamen odibilis ,
at amabilis et preciosa philosophise supra gemmas et aurum obrizon .
Omnium amatrix , omnibus ferme inimica , ubique reperibilis et a paucis¬
simis — quasi nullis — inven tamper vicos accla?nans omnibus : Venite ad me,
omnes qui quceritis, et Ego vos ducam in veram semitam . Hcec est res ilia
tantum a veris prcedicata philosophis, quce. vincit omnia, nec ab ulla re
vincitur, corpus et cor, omne durum et solidum penetrans, ac 077ine molle
consolidans, et ab 07nni duro resiste7idum conjirmans. Nobis omnibus se
facit obviam, et non videmus earn, vociferans et alta voce dicens : Ego
su77i via veritatis j transite per me, quia non est alius ad vitam transitus ;
et nolumus ear7i audire. Odorem suavitatis etnittit, sed 7to?i percipivius
eu7n. Dapibus sese nobis liberaliter in suavitatem offert indies, et ?ion
degustamus earn. Blande 710 s ad salutem trahit, et ejus tractui resistentes,
sentire nolumus. Quonian facti sumus sicut lapides, oculos habentes et
non videntes , aures habentes et non audientes, nares non olfacientes
habentes, ore linguaque muniti non degustantes, 7ieque loqueiites, 7nanibus
et pedibus 7iil operant es, nec ambula7ites. O misencm tale genus hominum
quod lapidibus non est press tantius, imo loiige inferius eo quod hoc, 7ion
illi ratio7iem daturi sunt operationwn suarum. Transmutemini ( inquit )
transmutemini de lapidibus 7nortuis in lapides vivos philosophicos. Ego
sum vera Medicina, corrigens et transt7iutans id quod non est a7nplius in
id quod fuit ante co7'ruptionem, ac in melius, ac id quod non est i7i id
quod esse debet. Ecce pree foribus conscientice vestree sum nodes ac dies
pul sans , et non aperitis mihi, Tamen expecto mitis, nec a vobis irata
recedo, sed patiens injii7'ias sustineo vestras, cupie7is per patie7itia7n ad

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Anima Magica Absconclita

which nothing is absent ; to which nothing is added and
nothing; still less can harm. All needful is that with
which no one can dispense. Truth is therefore the
highest excellence and an impregnable fortress, having
few friends and beset by innumerable enemies, though
invisible in these days to almost the whole world, but an
invincible security to those who possess it. In this citadel
is contained that true and indubitable Stone and Treasure
of Philosophers, which uneaten by moths and unpierced
by thieves remaineth to eternity — though all things else
dissolve — set up for the ruin of many and the salvation
of some. This is the matter which for the crowd is vile,
exceedingly contemptible and odious, yet not hateful but
loveable and precious to the wise, beyond gems and tried
gold. A lover itself of all, to all well nigh an enemy, to be
found everywhere, yet discovered scarcely by any, though
it cries through the streets to all : Come to me, all ye who
seek, and I will lead you in the true path. This is that
only thing proclaimed by the true philosophers, that which
overcometh all and is itself overcome by nothing, searching
heart and body, penetrating whatsoever is stony and stiff,

earn exhortando vos ducere. Venite iterum , atque scepius iterum venite ,
qui sapientiam quceritis et emite grafts, non auro nec argento, minus
laboribus propriis quod vobis offer fur uliro. Sonora vox , suavis et grata
philo sophantium auribus. O fans divitiarum inexhaustibilis vetitatem
et justitiam sitientibus. 0 desolatorum imperfectioni solatium. Quid
ultra quceritis, mortales anxii ? Cur infmiiis animos vestros curis
exagitatis , Miseri ? Quce vestra vos exccecat dementia, quceso ? Cum in
vobis— non ex vobis — sit omne quod extra vos, noti apud vos quceritis .
Proprium hoc so let esse vulgi vitium, ut propria cotit emnens , aliena quce
sunt semper appetat. Proprium hie pro nobis appropriati sumimus ,
nam ex nobis ip sis nihil habemus boni , sed si quid habere boni possumus
ab eo qui solus est bonus ferimus acceptum. E contra, quod habemus
mali nobis ipsi nos appropriavimus , ex alieno malo per inobedientiam.
Proprium ergo nihil homini est ex suo preeterquam malum quod possidet.
Quod ex Bono bonum habet tion ex seipso, sed contribute proprium habet
ex Bono , cum recipit tamen. Lucet in nobis ( licet obscure ) Vita Lux
hominum, tanquam in tenebris, quce non ex nobis est sed ab eo cujus est.
Hie illam plantavit in nobis, ut in ejus Lumine, qui lucem inhabitat
inaccessibilem, videremus Lumen; et hoc cceteras ejus prcecelleremus
creaturas. Illi similes hac ratione facti , quod scintillam sui Luminis
dederit nobis. Est igitur veritas non in nobis queerenda, sed in imagine
Dei, quce in nobis est.

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The W irks of Thomas V aughan

consolidating that which is weak and establishing resistance
in the hard. It confronts us all, though we see it not, crying
and proclaiming with uplifted voice : I am the way of truth ;
see that you walk therein, for there is no other path unto
life : yet we will not hearken unto her. She giveth forth
an odour of sweetness, and yet we perceive it not. Daily
and freely at her feasts she offers to us herself in sweetness,
but we will not taste and see. Softly she draws us towards
salvation and still we reject her yoke. For we are become
even as stones, having eyes and not seeing, ears and hear¬
ing not, nostrils refusing to smell, a tongue that will not
speak, a mouth which does not taste, feet which refuse to
walk and hands that work at nothing. O miserable race
of men, which are not superior to stones, yea, so much
the more inferior because to the one and not the other
is given knowledge of their acts. Be ye transmuted —
she cries — be ye transmuted from dead stones into living
philosophical stones. I am the true Medicine, rectifying
and transmuting that which is no longer into that which
it was before corruption entered, and into something
better by far, and that which is no longer into that which
it ought to be. Lo, I am at the door of your conscience,
knocking night and day, and ye will not open unto me.
Yet I wait mildly ; I do not depart in anger ; I suffer
your affronts patiently, hoping thereby to lead you where
I seek to bring. Come again, and come again often, ye
who seek wisdom : buy without money and without
price, not with gold or silver, nor yet by your own
labours, that which is offered freely. O sonorous voice,
O voice sweet and gracious to ears of sages. O fount
of inexhaustible riches to those thirsting after truth and
justice. O consolation to those who are desolate. What
seek ye further, ye anxious mortals ? Why torment
your minds with innumerable anxieties, ye miserable
ones ? Prithee, what madness blinds you, when within
and not without you is all that you seek outside instead of
within you ? Such is the peculiar vice of the vulgar, that

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Anima Magica Abscondita

despising their own, they desire ever what is foreign,
nor yet altogether unreasonably, for of ourselves we have
nothing that is good, or if indeed we possess any, it is
received from Him Who alone is eternal good. On the
contrary, our disobedience hath appropriated that which
is evil within us from an evil principle without, and be¬
yond this evil thus possessed within him man has nothing
of his own ; for whatsoever is good in his nature belongs
to the Lord of goodness. At the same time that is
counted to him as his own which he receives from the
Good Principle. Albeit dimly, that Life which is the
light of men shineth in the darkness within us, a Life
which is not of us but of Him Who hath it from ever¬
lasting. He hath planted it in us, that in His Light,
Who dwelleth in Light inaccessible, we may behold the
Light. Herein we surpass the rest of His creatures ;
thus are we fashioned in His likeness, Who hath given
us a beam of His own inherent Light. Truth must not
therefore be sought in our natural self, but in the likeness
of God within us.”

This is he to whom the Brothers of R. C. gave the
title of Sapiens and from whose writings they borrowed
most of their instructions to a certain German postu¬
lant.1 But, that you may the better understand how
to come by this Stone, hear what he speaks in another
place.2

1 Ad ca?idi datum quendam Germanics.

2 Non prius incipit vera cognitio quam perennium et labilium , cum
vitce turn interitus oblatd comparatione , selegat anima cum animo jungi ,
delectatione majori tracta hujus , quam corporis . Ex ea cognitions
Metis oritur , et corporis voluntaria separatio surnit exordium , cum
anima respiciens ex unci corporis fceditatem et interitum , ex altera parte
prcestantiam et fcelicitatem animi perpetuam , cum isto ( Divino sic
disponente Flatu) connecti cupit , altero penitus neglecto , ut hoc solum
appetat quod a Deo conclusum esse videt in saiutem et gloriam. Corpus
in amborum jam unitorum unionem condescendere cogitur. Hcec est
admirabilis ilia philosophorum transmutatio corporis hi spiritum et
hujus in corpus, de qua dictum nobis relinquitur a sapientibus : Fac
fix-um volatile , et volatile fac fixum , ut habeas magisterium nostrum.
Inteliige : fac de pertinaci corpore tractabile , quod animi prcestantia cum
anima conv entente constantissimum fiat corpus ad omnia susiinendum

IOI

The W orks of Thomas V siughan

“ True knowledge begins when after a comparison of
the imperishable with the perishable, of life and annihila¬
tion, the soul — yielding to the superior attraction of that
which is eternal — doth elect to be made one with the
higher soul. The mind emerges from that knowledge
and as a beginning chooses voluntary separation of the
body, beholding with the soul, on the one hand, the
foulness and corruption of the body and, on the other,
the everlasting splendour and felicity of the higher soul.
Being moved thereto by the Divine inbreathing, and
neglecting things of flesh, it yearns to be connected with
this soul, and that alone desires which it finds compre¬
hended by God in salvation and glory. But the body
itself is brought to harmonise with the union of both.
This is that wonderful philosophical transmutation of
body into spirit and of spirit into body about which an
instruction has come down to us from the wise of .old :
c Fix that which is volatile and volatilise that which is
fixed ; and thou shalt attain our Mastery.’ That is to
say : Make the stifF-necked body tractable and the virtue
of the higher soul, operating with the soul herself, shall
communicate invariable constancy to the material part, so
that it will abide all tests. Gold is tried by fire, and by
this process all that is not gold is cast out. O pre-eminent
gold of the philosophers, with which the Sons of the Wise
are enriched, not with that which is coined. Come hither,
ye who seek after so many ways the Treasure of Philo-

examina. Probcitur enim aurum igne , quo reprobatur omne quod aurum
non est. O p rces ta ntissim u m philosophorum aurum , quo ditantur
sapie?iticE filii , non illo quod cuditur. Adeste, qui Thesaurum Philo¬
sophorum tarn vario conatu quceritis , reprobatum a vobis Lapidem
cognoscite , prius quis ille sit antequam quceratur. Mirum est super om?ie
miraculum , quod quispiam appetat ignotum sibi. Fatuum certe videtur
id ab hominibus quceri , cujus veritatem no7i norunt investigates , quia
nihil in eo spei relinquitur. Suadeo quibusvis ergo perquirentibus , ut
cognoscant prius ejus quod qucerunt , veram existentiam , antequam
quce?'ant : sic eos laboribus frustrari non conti?iget. Sapiens qucerit quod
amat , nec a7nare potest quod no7i cog7ioscit : alio qui 7i insipie7is esset.
Ex co g7iitio7ie igitur natus est amor , omnium ve?itas , quae sola viget in
omnibus veris philosophis .

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Anima Magica Abscondita

sophers. Behold that Stone which you have rejected, and
learn first what it is before you go to seek it. It is more
astonishing than any miracle that a man should desire
after that which he does not know. It is folly to go in
quest of that, the truth of which investigators do not
know : such a search is hopeless. I counsel therefore all
and sundry scrutators that they should ascertain in the
first place whether that which they look for exists before
they start on their travels : they will not be frustrated
then in their attempts. The wise man seeks what he
loves and loves only that which he knows : otherwise he
would be a fool. Out of knowledge therefore cometh
love, the Truth of all, which alone is esteemed by all
just philosophers.”

Thus he; and again:1 “Ye only toil in vain, all
exposers of hidden secrets in Nature, when — taking
another path than this — ye endeavour to discover by

1 Frustra laboratis omnes abditorum Natures secretorum indagatores ,
cum aliam Ingres si viam , terrenorum virtutes per terrena detegere
conamini. Discite igitur Caelum per Caelum , no7i per terrain, sed hujus
per illius ,vir tutes cognoscere. Nemo enimascenditin Ccelum quodqueeritis ,
nisi qui de Coelo ( quod non queeritis ) descendit , prius illuminet eum. In-
corruptibilem queeritis medicinam , quee corpora nedum a corruptione
transmute t in verum tempera mentu m , sed etiam temperata diutissime
conservet. Talem alibi qtiam in Coelo reperire non poteritis unquam.
Caelum virtute sud, per invisibiles radios in terras centrum undique con-
currentes , omnia penetrat elementa , et elementata generai , fovetque.
Nemo in seipso , sed in sui simili , quod etiam ex ipso sit, generare
Potest. Foetus etiam promiscuus utriusque parentis in se Naturam ita
retinet , ut in eo parens uterque potentia et actu sit reperibilis. Quis
hcerebit amplius nisi lapis in generatione philosophica ? Disce ex teipso
quicquid est in caelo et in terra cognoscere , ut sapiens fias in omnibus.
Ignoras coelum et elementa pi ius unum fuisse , Divino quoque ab invicem
artificio separata , ut et te et omnia general e possent. Si hoc nosti ,
reliquum et te fugere non potest, aut ingenio cares omni. Rursus in
omni generatione talis separatio est necessaria, qualem de te supra dixi
fiendam, antequam ad verce philosophise studia velum applices. Ex aliis
nunquam unum facies quod queeris , nisi prius ex teipso fiat unum quod
audisti. Nam talis est voluntas Dei, ut pii pium consequantur opus
quod queerunt , et perfecti perficiant aliud cui fueiint intenti. Malce
voluntatis hominibus nihil preeter quod seminaverint datur met ere : imo
quod magis est, per scope bonum eorum semen in lolium propter eorum
malitiam convertitur. Fac igitur ut talis evadas, quale iuum esse vis,
quod qucesiei is opus.

103

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

material means the powers of material things. Learn
therefore to know Heaven by Heaven, not by earth, but
the powers of that which is material discern by that which
is heavenly. No one can ascend to that Heaven which is
sought by you unless He Who came down from a Heaven
which you seek not shall first enlighten. Ye seek an
incorruptible Medicine which shall not only transmute
the body from corruption into a perfect mode but so
preserve it continually ; yet except in Heaven itself,
never anywhere will you discover it. The celestial virtue,
by invisible rays meeting at the centre of the earth,
penetrates all elements, and generates and maintains
elementated things. No one can be brought to birth
therein save in the likeness of that which also is drawn
therefrom. The combined foetus of both parents is so
preserved in Nature that both parents may be recognis¬
able therein, in potentiality and in act. What shall cleave
more closely than the Stone in philosophical generation ?
Learn from within thyself to know whatsoever is in
Heaven and on earth, that thou mayst become wise in
all things. Thou seest not that Heaven and the elements
were once but one substance and were separated one from
another by Divine skill for the generation of thyself and
all that is. Didst thou know this, the rest could not
escape, unless indeed thou art devoid of all capacity.
Again, in every generation such a separation is necessary
as I have said must be made by thee before starting out
in the study of true philosophy. Thou wilt never make
out of others that one thing which thou needest unless
first thou shalt make out of thyself that one of which
thou hast heard. For such is the will of God, that the
pious should perform the pious work which they desire
and the perfect fulfil another on which they are bent. To
men of bad will there shall be no harvest other than they
have sown ; furthermore, on account of their malice, their
good seed shall be changed very often into cockle. Per¬
form then the work which thou seekest in such a manner

104

Anima Magica Abscondita

that, so far as may be in thy power, thou mayst escape
a like misfortune.”

This is now the true mystery of regeneration or the
spiritual death.1 This is and ever was the only scope
and upshot of magic. But — for your further instruction
— ruminate this his other mystical speech.2

“ So do therefore, my soul and my body : rise up now
and follow your higher soul. Let us go up into that
high mountain before us, from the pinnacle of which 1
will shew you that place where two ways meet, of which
Pythagoras spoke in cloud and darkness. Our eyes are
opened ; now shines the Sun of Holiness and Justice,
guided by which we cannot turn aside from the way of
truth. Let thine eyes look first upon the right path, lest
they behold vanity before wisdom is perceived. See you

1 Neither in the physical nor spiritual order are birth and death inter¬
changeable terms. Regeneration is one thing at the beginning of the
life mystical and the death called mystical or spiritual is another, lying
far away in the experience.

2 Agite dum igitur , anima me a , corpusque meum. Surgite nunc,
animutn sequamini ve strum. Ascendamus in montem fame excelsum
nobis oppositum , de cujus cacumme vobis ostendam iter hoc bivium , de
quo per nubem et sine lumine locutus est Pythagoras. Nobis aperti
sunt oculi j turn prcelucet Sol pietatis et justitice, quo duce non possumus
a via veritatis defiectere. Volvite pi imum oculos ad dextram , ne videant
vanitatem antequam sapientiam perceperint. Videtisne relucens illud
et inexpugnabile castrum ? In eo se continet philosophicus amor , de
cujus fonte fluunt aquee vivee quas qui desgustarit semel non sitit vani¬
tatem amplius. Ab eo loco tarn amoeno suavique recta progrediendum
est ad amceniorem , in qzco Sophia moram trahit , de cujus etiam fonte
scaturiunt aquee primis longe feelieiores , quas qui gustarint inimici ,
pacem eos inire necesse est. Eorum qui deveniunt eo plerique solent
altius tendere , sed 7ion omnes optatum assequuntur. Est locus ultra
didos , quern adire vix licet mortalibus , nisi per Divinum Numen ad
immortalitatis gradum assumpti sunt. At antequam introducantur
mundum coguntur exuere , caducce vitce spolio retento. Non est eo cum
pervenerint quod amplius mortem timer ant, into potius earn indies
ampledantur suavius , quam in mundo quid unquam suave judicatum est
eis amplexu dignum . Ultra hcec tria loca quicunque pro grediuntur ab
hominum oculis evanescuiit. Quod si secundum et tertium locos videre
lubet ascendamus altius. En supra chrystallinam primam arcem
aliam arge?iteam videtis , ultra quam et tertiajn adamantinam. Qmarta
vero non cadit sub sensum , donee ultra tertiam deventum sit « Ilic est
aureus perpetuce feelieitatis locus , solicitudinis expers et omni repletus
g audio perenni.

io5

The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

not that shining and impregnable tower ? Therein is
Philosophical Love, a fountain from which flow living
waters, and he who drinks thereof shall thirst no more
after vanity. From that most pleasant and delectable
place goes a plain path to one more delightful still,
wherein Wisdom draws the yoke. Out of her fountain
flow waters far more blessed than the first, for if our
enemies drink thereof it is necessary to make peace with

them. Most of those who attain here direct their course
still further, but not all attain the end. It is such a place
which mortals may scarcely reach unless they are raised
by the Divine Will to the state of immortality ; and

then, or ever they enter, they must put ofF the world, the
hindering vesture of fallen life. In those who attain
hereto there is no longer any fear of death ; on the
contrary they welcome it daily with more willingness,
judging that whatsoever is agreeable in the natural order
is worthy of their acceptance. Whosoever advances
beyond these three regions passes from the sight of men.
If so be that it be granted us to see the second and the
third, let us seek to go further. Behold, beyond the first
and crystalline arch, a second arch of silver, beyond which
there is a third of adamant. But the fourth comes not
within our vision till the third lies behind us. This is
the golden realm of abiding happiness, void of care, filled
with perpetual joy.”

This is the pitch and place to which if any man ascends
he enters into chariots of fire and is translated from the
earth, soul and body.1 Such was Enoch, such was Elijah,
such was Esdras — to whom this Medicine was ministered
by Uriel the angel. Such was St Paul, who was carried
up to the third heaven ; such was Zoroaster, who was

1 Notwithstanding his language and his reference to Enoch and Elijah,
Vaughan is not perhaps expecting to be taken literally in his statement.
Otherwise he would scarcely have cited the experience of St Paul. He is
probably referring to the psychic body, the garment of discarnate souls.
If not, his enumeration stultifies himself. See his later reference to the
natural body in an archnatural state.

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Anima Magica Abscondita

itransfigured ; and such was that anonymous mentioned
iby Agrippa. “ In like manner ” — saith he — “ a wise man
^testified concerning himself that on all sides sparkling
flames issued from his body, accompanied even by
!noise.” 1 This, I suppose, was R. C, the founder of a
most Christian and famous Society, whose body also — by
virtue of that Medicine he took in his life — is preserved
entire to this day, with the epitomes of two worlds about
lit. Such Elijahs also are the members of this Fraternity,
who — as their own writings testify— walk in the super¬
natural light. “To join our assembly” — say they — “it
is needful that thou shouldst behold this light, for with¬
out this it is impossible to see, save only when we
i ourselves do will it.” 2 I know some illiterate school
divines will no sooner read this but they will cry out
with the Jews : Away with such a fellow from the earth.
Truly they are the men “to whom now I also give
counsel that they read not our writings, nor seek to
understand or remember them ; for they are harmful and
as poison to such, and for them the gate of hell is in this
i book. It utters stones for words : let them take heed
j lest it strikes their heads.” 3 Let them not mind it, buy it
i not, touch it not. “ Hence, hence, ye Profane.” 4

Go on still and proceed in your own corrupt fancies,
“that the occasion of justice may be upheld.” 5 Follow
your old beggarly elements, the rudiments of this v/orld,

I which hitherto have done despite to the Spirit of Grace,
which have grieved that Holy and Loving Spirit of God,

1 I dip sum et de se prodidit sapiens quid am, ita ut scintillantes flamincE
hinc inde , etiam cum sono prosilirent . — De Occulta Philosophia,
Lib. iii, cap. 43.

2 Ut nobiscum autem cotivenias necesse est hanc lucem cernas , sine enim
hcec luce impossibile est nos videre , nisi quando volumus.

3 Quibus et ego nunc consulo , ne tiostra scripta legant , nec inielligant,
nee meminerint : nam noxia sunt , venenosa sunt , acherontis ostium est
m hoc libello , lapides loquitur, caveant tie cerebrum illis excutiat. — De
Occulta Philosophia. Ad Lectorem.

4 Procul hinc , procul ite , Prophani.

5 Vi servetur justitice locus.

107

The W orks of Thomas V aughan

whereby you are sealed to the day of redemption. But
consider whiles you are yet in the flesh, whiles it is to-day
with you, that God will use those men, whom you revile,
for His truth, as witnesses against you in a day when
you shall have nothing to speak for your ignorance,
unless you plead your obstinacy. Of a truth God Him¬
self discovered this thing to the first man, to confirm his
hopes of those three supernatural mysteries — the Incar¬
nation, Regeneration and Resurrection. For Iamblichus
— citing the Egyptian records with “ it is to be believed
on the authority of secret teaching ” 1 — hath these very
words, u that a certain matter hath been handed down
by the gods in sacred pageants and was known therefore
to those same who transmitted it.” 2 And our former
Christian author in a certain place speaks thus : “ It is
beyond question that God revealed by His Holy Spirit
a certain Medicine to the patriarchs whereby they repaired
the corruption of flesh, and to those above all with whom
He spoke and entered into the covenant.” 3 Let me tell
you then that the period and perfection of magic is no
way physical, for this Art

Attains the throne of Jove and things divine essays.4

In a word, it ascends by the light of Nature to the
light of Grace,5 and the last end of it is truly theological.
Remember therefore that Elijah deposed his mantle and
passed through the waters of Jordan before he met with
the chariots of Israel. But, as Agrippa saith, “the store¬
house of truth is closed.” G The Scripture is obscure and
mystical, even in historical passages. Who would believe

1 Credendum est arcanis sermonibus.

2 Traditain fuisse materiam quandam a Deis per beat a spectacula , Jicec
ergo Hits ipsis tradentibus cognata est.

2 Dubinin non est quin Dens , antiquis patribus , medicinam aliquant
revelaverit , per Spiritum Sanctum Suum , qua tuerentur carnis corrup-
tionem , et poiissi mum iis cum quibus locutus est et fcedus intuit.

4 A ttingit solium Jovis et ccclestia tent at.

5 Per lumen Natural in lumen Gratice.

0 Clausum est veritatis armarium.

108

Anima Magica Abscondita

that in the history of Agar and Sarah the mystery of both
Testaments was couched but that St Paul himself hath told
us so ? “ For it is written ” — saith he — “ that Abraham
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a
freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was
born after the flesh ; but he of the freewoman was by
promise. Which things are an allegory : for these are
the two covenants ; the one from the Mount Sinai, which
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is
Mount Sinai, which is in Arabia, and answereth to
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her
children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which
is the mother of us all.” 1

I could instance in many more such places, as that of
the Royal Prophet, that the dew of Hermon descends to
Mount Sion, which is altogether impossible in the literal
sense, for every geographer knows there is a vast distance
between these two.2 3 But to return to my former dis¬
course : some philosophers who by the special mercy of
God attained to the Ternarius could never notwith¬
standing obtain the perfect Medicine, neither did they
understand it.8 I never met in all my readings but with
six authors who fully apprehended this mystery : the first
an Arabian, a most profound but exceedingly obscure
writer, and from him I conceive Artephius borrowed all
his knowledge ; 4 * * * the second a most ancient Christian

1 Galatians, iv, 22-26.

2 Vaughan is following the literal version of the VULGATE : Sicut ros
Hermon , qui descendit in montem Sion. — Ps., cxxxii, 3. The Authorised
Version italicizes a saving clause: “As the dew of Hermon, and as the
dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.” — Ps., cxxxii, 3. The
question is not worth debating.

3 See my Introduction. The attainment referred to may mean in
the intellectual order, as distinguished from active realisation in the
whole man.

4 The Arabian of course cannot be identified by this description, and

the concealment is unworthy of a writer who is pretending to instruct

others. We may set aside the genuine Arabian alchemists, who would
not have been known to Vaughan, for they had not been translated or

printed ; we may set aside the Latin Geber and Avicenna ; but the refer-

IO9

The W irks of Thomas Vaughan

anonymous, the greatest that ever was in point of practice,
for he ascended to that glorious metaphysical height
where the Archetype shadows the intellectual spheres ; 1
the other four are famously known in Christendom. To
instruct thee then : this mystery is perfected when the
light, in a sudden coruscation, strikes from the centre to
the circumference and the Divine Spirit hath so swallowed
up the body that it is “ a glorified body, splendid as the
sun and moon.” 2 In this rotation it doth pass — and no
sooner — from the natural to a supernatural state, for it is
no more fed with visibles but with invisibles, and the eye
of the Creator is perpetually upon it. After this the
material parts are never more to be seen, <c and this is
that stainless and oft-celebrated Invisibility of the Magi.”3
Verily this is the way that the prophets and apostles went ;
this is the true, primitive Divinity, not that clamorous
sophistry of the schools. I know the world will be ready
to boy me out of countenance for this, because my years are
few and green. I want their two crutches, the pretended
modern sanctity and that solemnity of the beard which
makes up a doctor. But, Reader, let me advise thee : if
by what is here written thou attainest to any knowledge
in this point — which I hold impossible without a divine
assistance — let me advise thee, I say, not to attempt any¬
thing rashly ; for Agrippa tells me : c< Whosoever doth
approach unpurified calls down judgment on himself and
is given over to the devouring of the evil spirit ” 4 There
is in the magical records a memorable story of a Jew who

ence may be possibly to Morien, who was born in Rome but went in his
youth to Alexandria and is alleged to have left three tracts in Arabic.
Two at least of these would have been known in Latin by Vaughan.

1 The list of anonymous works on Alchemy — apart from MSS. — fills
nearly twelve pages in the bibliography of Lenglet du Fresnoy.

2 Corpus glorificatum tanquam Sol et Luna splendidum.

3 Atque hce.c est ilia toties decantata et sine scelera Magorum invisi-
bilitas.

4 Quicunque impwificatus accesserit superinducit sibi judicium , et
traditur ad devorandum spiritus nequam. — De Occulta Philosophia,
Lib . iii, cap. 6.

I IO

Anima Magica Abscondita

having by permission rifled some spiritual treasures was
translated into the solitudes1 and is kept there for an
example to others. I will give thee the best counsel that
can be given, and that out of a poet :

Demand a healthy mind in healthful frame. 2

Thou must prepare thyself till thou art conformable to
Him Whom thou wouldst entertain, and that in every re¬
spect.3 Thou hast three that are to receive and there are
three accordingly that give.4 Fit thy roof to thy God
in what thou canst, and in what thou canst not He will
help thee. When thou hast thus set thy house in order,
do not think thy Guest will come without invitation.
Thou must tire Him out with pious importunities,

Perpetual knockings at His door,

Tears sullying His transparent fooms,

Sighs upon sighs : weep more and more —

He comes.

This is the way thou must walk in, which if thou dost
thou shalt perceive a sudden illustration, “ and there shall
then abide in thee fire with light, wind with fire, power
with wind, knowledge with power, and with knowledge an
integrity of sober mind.”5 This is the chain that qualifies
a magician. For saith Agrippa : “To make search into
things future and things at hand, or into other hidden
things, and those which are foreshewn to men divinely,
and into true significations, as also to perform works ex¬
ceeding the common course of the powers of Nature, is
not possible apart from a profound and perfect doctrine,
an uncorrupted life and faith, and is not to be performed

1 In solitudines.

2 Orandum est , ut sit mens sana in corltore sano.

3 Omnimodo similitudine.

4 i St John, v, 7, 8. But see Agrippa : De Occulta Philosophia,
Lib. iii, cap. 36.

5 Eritque i?i te cum lumine ignis , cum igne ventus , cum vento potesias,
cum polestate scientia , cum scientia sance me7itis integriias.

I I I

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

by light-minded or uninstructed men.” 1 And in another
place: “No man can give that which he himself hath
not. But no man hath save he who having suspended
the elementary forces, having overcome Nature, having
compelled heaven, having reached the angels, hath ascended
to the Archetype itself, as coadjutor whereof he can
accomplish all things. ” 2 This is the place where if thou
canst but once ascend and then descend,

Then oft the archetypal world attain
And oft recur thereto and, face to face,

Unhinder’d gaze upon the Father’s grace3 —

then, I say, thou hast got that spirit “ which with¬
out offence to God, apart from any crime and without
injury to religion, can discern and perform whatsoever
portentous astrologers, monstrous magians, invidious
alchemystical torturers of Nature and venomous necro¬
mancers— more evil than demons — dare to promise.” 4 5
Such is the power he shall receive who from the
clamorous tumults of this world ascends to the Super¬
natural Still Voice ; from this base earth and mud —
whereto his body is allied — to the spiritual, invisible
elements of his soul.6 “ He shall receive the life of the

1 Explorare de futuris et imminentibus , aliisve occultis , et quce
hominibus divinities portenduntur , veridicas sententias , atque operari
opera virtutum communem natures consuetudinem excedentia , non nisi
profundee et perfects doctiince , integerrimeeque vitce ac fidei est , non
hominum levissiniorunt , ac indoctorum.

2 Non poterit ilia dare qui non habet. Habet autem nemo , nisi qui
jam cohibitis dementis , vietd naturd , superatis cadis, repertis angelis,
ad ipsum Archetypum usque transcendit , cujus tunc co operator ejficere
potest omnia.

3 Tunc ire ad mundum archetypum scepe atque redire ,
Cunctarumque Patrem rerum spectare licebit.

4 Qui quicquid portentosi mathematici , quicqidd prodigiosi magi ,
quicquid invidentes naturae persecutors alchymistce , quicqidd deemonibus
deteriores malefici necromantes promittere audent. Ipse novit discernere et
ejficere , idque sine omni crimine , sine Dei ojensd , sine religionis injurid.

5 Compare Cornelius Agrippa : “Therefore all complexities, division
and manifold discourse being set aside, ascending to intellectual life and
simple sight, let us look upon the intelligible essence with individual and
direct precepts, so attaining that highest nature of the soul, wherein we

I 12

Anima Magica Abscondita

gods ; he shall behold the heroes in the assembly of the
gods and shall himself be beheld by them.”1 This,
Reader, is the Christian Philosopher’s Stone — a Stone
so often inculcated in Scripture. This is the Rock in the
wilderness — in the wilderness because in great obscurity
and few there are that know the right way unto it. This
is the Stone of Fire in Ezekiel ; this is the Stone with
Seven Eyes upon it in Zachary ; and this is the White
Stone with the New Name in the Revelation. But in
the Gospel, where Christ Himself speaks — Who was born
to discover mysteries and communicate Heaven to earth
— it is more clearly described. This is the Salt which
you ought to have in yourselves ; this the Water and
Spirit whereof you must be born again ; and this is that
Seed which falls to the ground and multiplies to an
hundred fold. But, Reader, be not deceived in me. I
am not a man of any such faculties, neither do I expect
this blessing in such a great measure in this life. God is
no debtor of mine. I can affirm no more of myself but
what my author did formerly : “ Hold me, I bid thee, as
a finger-post which, ever pointing forward, shews the way
to others undertaking the journey.” 2 Behold, I will deal
fairly with thee : shew me but one good Christian who is
capable of and fit to receive such a secret, and I will shew
him the right, infallible way to come by it. Yet this I
must tell thee : it would sink thee to the ground to hear
this mystery related, for it cannot ascend to the heart of
the natural man how near God is to him and how He is
to be found.

are one . . even that first unity in which we are also made one.” — De
Occulta Philosophia. Lib. iii, c. 55. Vaughan reflects Agrippa, and the
German occult philosopher drew from the fount of Platonism.

1 I lie Deum vitam accipiet , divisque videbit permotos hero as, et ipse
videbitur illis.

2 Accipe me, volo, velut indicem qui semper prce foribus martens aliis
quod iter ingrediendum sit ostendat. The counsel signifies that he who
knows certainly and beholds with the mind’s eye what manner of trans¬
figuration takes place on Mount Tabor has not for such reason been
himself transfigured.

1 12>

8

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

But of this enough. I will now speak of a natural
celestial medicine, and this latter is common amongst
some wise men ; but few are they who attain to the
former. The common chemist works with the common
fire and without any medium, wherefore he generates
nothing ; for he works not as God doth — to preservation
— but to destruction. Hence it is that he ends always in
the ashes. Do thou use it cum phlegmate medii : 1 so shall
thy materials rest in a third element, where the violence
of this tyrant cannot reach, but his anima. There is also
a better way ; for if thou canst temper him with the
Spirit of Heaven, thou hast altered him from a corrupt¬
ing to a generating fire. Sublime the middle-nature-fire
by trigon and circle1 2 till thou comest to a breach of
inferiors and superiors. Lastly, separate from the magical
compounded earth that principle which is called medial
earth3 because it is middlemost between the Unary and
Binary;4 for as it attains not to the simplicity of the first,
so it is free from the impurities of the second. This is
the true Crystalline Rock 5 — a bright virgin earth, without
spot or darkness. This is “ Magian Earth in luminous
ether,” 6 for it carries in its belly wind and fire. Having
got this fundamental of a little new world, unite the
heaven in a triple proportion to the earth ; then apply a
generative heat to both ; and they will attract from above
the star-fire of Nature. “ So shalt thou possess the glory
of the world and all darkness shall fly away from thee.”7

Now, because the Law of Nature is infallible and con¬
firmed to the creature by God’s royal assent, think not
therefore there is any necessity upon God, but what He
hath enacted in general He can repeal in any particular.

1 Compare the middle nature or so-called viscous humidity, of which
man was made, according to Vaughan, and by which he can be also
renewed.

2 Per Trigonum et Circulum. 3 Terra media.

4 Unarius et Binarius. 6 Petra Chrystallina.

6 Terra maga in cethere clarificata.

7 Sic habebis gloriam totius mundi : ergo fugiet a te omnis obsewitas.

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Anima Magica Abscondita

Remember who translated the dew from the earth to the
fleece and from the fleece to the earth.1 God bestows
not His blessings where they are to turn to curses. He
cursed the earth once for Adam’s sake : take heed He
doth not curse it again in thy work for thy sake. It is
in vain to look for a blessing from Nature without the
God of Nature ; for — as the Scripture saith — without
controversy the lesser is blessed of the greater.2 He
must be a good steward that shall overlook the treasuries
of God. Have therefore a charitable, seraphic soul :
charitable at home in being not destructive to thyself, as
most men are ; charitable abroad in a diffusive goodness
to the poor, as many are not. There is in every true
Christian a spice, I cannot say a grain, of faith, for then
we could work miracles. But know thou that as God is
the Father so charity is the nurse of faith. For there
springs from charitable works a hope of Heaven, and who
is he that will not gladly believe what he hopes to receive ?
On the contrary, there springs no hope at all from the
works of darkness and by consequence no faith but that
faith of devils — to believe and tremble. Settle not then
in the lees and puddle of the world ; have thy heart in
Heaven and thy hands on earth. Ascend in piety and
descend in charity, for this is the nature of light and the
way of the children of it. Above all things avoid the
guilt of innocent blood, for it utterly separates from God
in this life and requires a timely and serious repentance
if thou wouldst find Him in the next.

Now for thy study : in the winter time thy chamber is
the best residence. Here thou mayst use fumigations
and spicy lamps — not for superstition but because such
recreate the animal spirits and the brain. In the summer
translate thyself to the fields, where all are green with the
breath of God and fresh with the powers of heaven.

1 Judges, vi, 37, 38.

2 The reference is presumably to Hebrews, vi, 16: “For men verily
swear by the greater.”

I I S

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Learn to refer all naturals to their spirituals by the way
of secret analogy ; 1 for this is the way the magicians
went and found out miracles. Many there are who
bestow not their thoughts on God till the world fails
them. He may say to such guests : “ When it can be
forced on no one else it is brought to me.” 2 Do thou
think on Him first and He will speak to thy thoughts
at last. Sometimes thou mayst walk in groves, which
being full of majesty will much advance the soul ; some¬
times by clear, active rivers, for by such — say the mystic
poets — Apollo contemplated.

All things which Phoebus in his musing spake
The bless’d Eurotas heard.3

So have I spent on the banks of Ysca many a serious hour.

’Tis day, my crystal Usk : now the sad night
Resigns her place as tenant to the light.

See the amazed mists begin to fly
And the victorious sun hath got the sky.

How shall I recompense thy streams, that keep
Me and my soul awaked when others sleep ?

I watch my stars, I move on with the skies
And weary all the planets with mine eyes.

Shall I seek thy forgotten birth and see
What days are spent since thy nativity ?

Didst serve with ancient Kishon ? Canst thou tell
So many years as holy Hiddekel ?

Thou art not paid in this : I’ll levy more
Such harmless contributions from thy store
And dress my soul by thee as thou dost pass,

As I would do my body by my glass.

What a clear, running crystal here I find :

Sure I will strive to gain as clear a mind,

And have my spirits — freed from dross — made light,

That no base puddle may allay their flight.

How I admire thy humble banks : nought’s here

1 Per viam secreterioris analogies.

2 Quum nemini obtrudi potest itur ad me.

3 Omnia qnce Phoebo quondam m edit ante, beatus
Audit Eurotas.

1 16

Amnia Magica Abscondita

But the same simple vesture all the year.

I’ll learn simplicity of thee and when
I walk the streets I will not storm at men,

Nor look as if I had a mind to cry :

It is my valiant cloth of gold and I.

Let me not live, but I’m amazed to see
What a clear type thou art of piety.

Why should thy floods enrich those shores, that sin
Against thy liberty and keep thee in ?

Thy waters nurse that rude land which enslaves
And captivates thy free and spacious waves.

Most blessed tutors, I will learn of those
To shew my charity unto my foes,

And strive to do some good unto the poor,

As thy streams do unto the barren shore.

All this from thee, my Ysca? Yes, and more ;

I am for many virtues on thy score.

Trust me thy waters yet : why — wilt not so ?

Let me but drink again and I will go.

I see thy course anticipates my plea :

I’ll haste to God, as thou dost to the sea ;

And when my eyes in waters drown their beams,

The pious imitations of thy streams,

May every holy, happy, hearty tear

Help me to run to Heaven, as thou dost there.

This is the way I would have thee walk in if thou dost
intend to be a solid Christian philosopher. Thou must
— as Agrippa saith — ££ live to God and the angels,” 1
reject all things which are ££ contrary to Heaven” :2 other¬
wise thou canst have no communion with superiors.
Lastly, £C be single, not solitary.”3 Avoid the multitude
— as well of passions as persons. Now for authors : I
wish thee to trust no moderns but Michael Sendivogius
and that author of Physica Restitutaf especially his first
aphoristical part. The rest whom I have seen suggest

1 Vivere Deum et angelos. 2 Ques ceelo dissimilia sunt.

3 Unus esto , non sohis.

4 Jean d’Espagnet : ENCHYRIDION Physicce Restitutes , cum Arcano
Philosophies Hermetices.

I 17

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

inventions of their own, such as may pass with the
whimsies of Descartes or Bovillus his Mathematical
Roses. To conclude, I would have thee know that
every day is a year contracted,1 that every year is a day
extended.2 Anticipate the year in the day and lose not
a day in the year. Make use of indeterminate agents till
thou canst find a determinate one. The many may wish
well but one only loves. Circumferences spread but
centres contract : so superiors dissolve and inferiors
coagulate. Stand not long in the sun nor long in the
shade. Where extremes meet, there look for com¬
plexions. Learn from thy errors to be infallible, from
thy misfortunes to be constant. There is nothing
stronger than perseverance, for it ends in miracles. I
could tell thee more, but that were to puzzle thee.
Learn this first, and thou mayst teach me last.

Thus, Reader, have I published that knowledge which
God gave me “ to the fruit of a good conscience.” 3 I
have not bushelled my light nor buried my talent in the
ground. I will now withdraw and leave the stage to the
next actor — some Peripatetic perhaps, whose sic probo shall
serve me for a comedy. I have seen scolds laughed at but
never admired : so he that multiplies discourses makes a
serious cause ridiculous. The only antidote to a shrew is
silence ; and the best way to convince fools is to neglect them.

Bless’d souls, whose care it was this first to know
And thus the mansions of the light attain :

How credible to hold that minds like these
Transcend both human littleness and vice. 4

If Thou, O Jehovah, my God, wilt enlighten me, my
darkness shall be made light.5

1 Annus contractus. 2 Dies extensus.

3 Ad fructum bonce conscientice.

4 Fcelices animce , quibus hcec cognoscere primum,

Inque domos superas scandere cur a fuit :

Cre dibile est illos pariter vitiisque, jocisque
A Itius humanis exeruisse caput.

5 Si Tu , Jehova , Deus meus , illuminaveris me> lux fient tenebrce niece.

1 1 8

MAGIA ADAMICA

OR THE ANTIQUITY OF MAGIC

To the Most Excellently Accomplished,

My best of Friends,

Mr Thomas Henshaw1

Sir : It was the Quaere of Solomon, and it argued the
supremacy of his wisdom : “ What was best for man to
do all the days of his vanity under the sun ? ” 2 If I wish
myself so wise as to know this great affair of life it is
because you are fit to manage it. I will not advise you
to pleasures, to build houses and plant vineyards, to
enlarge your private possessions or to multiply your gold
and silver. These are old errors, like vitriol to the
Stone 3 — so many false receipts which Solomon hath tried
before you, <c and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of
spirit.” 4 I have sometimes seen actions as various as they
were great, and my own sullen fate hath forced me to
several courses of life ; but I find not one hitherto which
ends not in surfeits or satiety. Let us fancy a man as
fortunate as this world can make him : what doth he do

1 Thomas Henshaw, 1618-1700, was entered at University College,
Oxford, in 1634. When the Civil War started he joined King Charles I
at York, was made prisoner later on but permitted to go abroad. He
became a privy councillor to Charles II, and one of the first Fellows of
the Royal Society in 1663. He translated a History of the Great
and Renowned Monarchy of China from the Italian of F. Alvarez
Sameda, and it was published in 1655.

2 Ecclesiastes, ii, 3. But the Authorised Version reads : “What was
that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all
the days of their life?” And the Vulgate is in substantial concurrence.

3 Pernety explains that alchemical symbolism concerning vitriol was
understood literally and that innumerable errors arose in consequence.
The symbolism calls Green Vitriol the crude Matter of the Stone ; White
Vitriol is the Magistery in its white stage ; and Red Vitriol is perfect
Sophie Sulphur in the red state.

4 Eccles., ii, 1 1.

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

but move from bed to board and provide for the circum¬
stances of those two scenes ? To-day he eats and drinks,
then sleeps, that he may do the like to-morrow. A great
happiness, to live by cloying repetitions and such as have
more of necessity than of a free pleasure. This is idem
per idem , and what is held for absurdity in reason cannot
by the same reason be the true perfection of life. I
deny not but temporal blessings conduce to a temporal
life, and by consequence are pleasing to the body ; but
if we consider the soul she is all this while upon the
wing — like that dove sent out of the ark, seeking a place
to rest. She is busied in a restless inquisition, and
though her thoughts — for want of true knowledge —
differ not from desires, yet they sufficiently prove she
hath not found her satisfaction.1 Shew me then but a
practice wherein my soul shall rest without any further
disquisition, for this is it which Solomon calls vexation of
spirit, and you shew me cc what is best for man to do
under the sun.” Surely, Sir, this is not the Philosopher’s
Stone, neither will I undertake to define it ; but give me
leave to speak to you in the language of Zoroaster :
“ Seek thou the channel of the soul.” 2 I have a better
confidence in your opinion of me than to tell you I love
you ; and for my present boldness you must thank your¬
self : you taught me this familiarity. I here trouble you
with a short discourse, the brokage and weak remem¬
brance of my former and more entire studies. It is no
laboured piece and indeed no fit present ; but I beg your
acceptance as of a caveat , that you may see what unprofit¬
able affections you have purchased. I propose it not for
your instruction. Nature hath already admitted you to
her school and I would make you my judge, not my
pupil. If therefore among your serious and more dear

1 The reason being that the soul is “ a mystic citizen of the eternal
kingdom.”

2 Qucere tu anim<z canalem. But the nearest to this maxim found in
the various collections is preserved by Psellus and reads : “ Explore the
river of the soul.”

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Magia Adamica

retirements you can allow this trifle but some few
minutes, and think them not lost, you will perfect my
ambition. You will place me, Sir, at my full height, and
though it were like that of Statius — amongst Gods and
stars — I shall quickly And the earth again, and with the
least opportunity present myself,

Sir,

Your most humble Servant,

Eugenius Philalethes.

A

123

TO THE READER

Well fare the Dodechedron : 1 I have examined the nativity
of this book by a cast of constellated bones, and Deux- Ace
tells me this parable. Truth — said the witty Ale-man —
was commanded into exile, and the Lady Lie was seated
on her throne. To perform the tenour of this sentence,
Truth went from among men — but she went all alone,
poor and naked. She had not travelled very far when,
standing on a high mountain, she perceived a great train
to pass by. In the midst of it was a chariot attended
with kings, princes and governors, and in that a stately
Donna who — like some Queen-Regent — commanded the
rest of the company. Poor Truth, she stood still whiles
this pompous squadron passed by ; but when the chariot
came over against her the Lady Lie, who was there seated,
took notice of her and, causing her pageants to stay,
commanded her to come nearer. Here she was scorn¬
fully examined — whence she came, whither she would go
and what about ? To these questions she answered — as
the custom of Truth is — very simply and plainly ; where¬
upon the Lady Lie commands her to wait upon her, and
that in the rear and tail of all her troop, for that was
the known place of Truth.

Thanks then, not to the stars but to the configurations
of the dice : they have acquainted me with my future
fortunes and what preferment my book is likely to attain
to. I am for my part contented, though the considera¬
tion of this dirty rear be very nauseous and able to spoil

1 !.e., Dodecahedron. According to Agrippa, the number twelve is
divine and things celestial are measured thereby. — De OCCULTA
Philosophia, Lib. ii, cap. 13. The term belongs also to Divination.

124

Magia Adamica

a stronger stomach than mine. It has been said of old :
a Truth is an herb that grows not here below ” ; 1 and
can I expect that these few seeds which I scatter thus in
the storm and tempest should thrive to their full ears
and harvest ? But, Reader, let it not trouble thee to
see the Truth come thus behind : it may be that there is
more of a chase in it than of attendance, and her con¬
dition is not altogether so bad as her station. If thou
art one of those who draw up to the chariot, pause here
a little in the rear, and before thou dost address thyself
to Aristotle and his Lady Lie, think not thy courtship
lost if thou dost kiss the lips of poor Truth. It is not
my intention to jest with thee in what I shall write,
wherefore read thou with a good faith what I will tell
thee with a good conscience.

God, when He first made man, planted in him a spirit
of that capacity that he might know all, adding thereto
a most fervent desire to know, lest that capacity should
he useless. This truth is evident in the posterity of
man ; for little children, before ever they can speak, will
stare upon anything that is strange to them. They will
cry and are restless till they get it into their hands, that
they may feel it and look upon it — that is to say, that
they may know what it is, in some degree and according
to the measure of their capacity. Now, some ignorant
nurse will think they do all this out of a desire to play
with what they see, but they themselves tell us the
contrary ; for when they are past infants and begin to
make use of language, if any new thing appears, they
will not desire to play with it but they will ask you what
it is. For they desire to know, and this is plain out of
their actions ; for if you put any rattle into their hands,
they will view it and study it for some short time, and
when they can know no more then they will play with it.
It is well known that if you hold a candle near to a little
child he will — if you prevent him not — put his finger

Non est ftlanta veritatis super terrain.

I2S

1

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

into the flame, for he desires to know what it is that
shines so bright. But there is something more than all
this, for even these infants desire to improve their
knowledge. Thus, when they look upon anything, if
the sight informs them not sufficiently, they will — if they
can — get it into their hands that they may feel it. But
if the touch also doth not satisfy, they will put it into
their mouths to taste it, as if they would examine things
by more senses than one. Now this desire to know is
born with them, and it is the best and most mysterious
part of their nature.

It is to be observed that when men come to their full
age and are serious in their dispositions they are ashamed
to err, because it is the propriety of their nature to know.
Thus we see that a philosopher being taken at a fault in
his discourse will blush, as if he had committed something
unworthy of himself ; and truly the very sense of this dis¬
grace prevails so far with some they had rather persist in
their error and defend it against the truth than acknow¬
ledge their infirmities — in which respect I make no
question but many Peripatetics are perversely ignorant.
It may be that they will scarcely hear what I speak, or if
they hear they will not understand. Howsoever I advise
them not wilfully to prevent and hinder that glorious end
and perfection for which the very Author and Father of
Nature created them. It is a terrible thing to prefer
Aristotle to Elohim and condemn the truth of God to
justify the opinions of man. Now, for my part, I dare
not be so irreligious as to think God so vain, and im¬
provident in His works, that He should plant in man a
desire to know and yet deny him knowledge itself. This
in plain terms were to give me eyes and afterwards shut
me up in darkness, lest I should see with those eyes.

This earnest longing and busy inquisition wherein men
tire themselves to attain the truth made a certain master
of truth speak in this fashion.1 “ It is clear therefore ” —

1 Ergo liquido apparet in hac mundi structura , quani cer?iimus , ali-

126

Magia Adamica

saith he — “ that in this fabric of the world, which we
behold, there is some truth that rules, which truth so
often stirs up, puzzles and helps our reason, so often
solicits her when she is restless, so often when she is
watchful, and this by strange means — not casual and
adventitious, but by genuine provocations and pleasures
of Nature — all which motions being not to no purpose it
falls out at last that in some good time we attain to the
true knowledge of those things that are.” But because I
would not have you build your philosophy on corals and
whistles, which are the objects of little children, of whom
we have spoken formerly, I will speak somewhat of those
elements in whose contemplation a man ought to employ
himself, and this discourse may serve as a preface to our
whole philosophy. Man — according to Trismegistus —
hath but two elements in his power, namely, earth and
water ; 1 to which doctrine I add this, and I have it from
a greater than Hermes : That God hath made man
absolute lord of the First Matter ; and from the First
Matter, and the dispensation thereof, all the fortunes of
man — both good and bad — do proceed. According to
the rule and measure of this substance all the world are
rich or poor, and he that knows it truly, and withal the
true use thereof, he can make his fortunes constant ; but
he that knows it not — though his estate be never so
great — stands on a slippery foundation.2 Look about
thee then and consider how thou art compassed with
infinite treasures and miracles ; but thou art so blind

quant triumphare veritatem ; quee toties rationem nostrum commovet ,
agitat , implicate explicatj toties inquietam , toties insomnem miris modis
sollicitat , non fortuitis , aut aliunde adventitiis , sed suis et propriis et
origitiariis natures illicibus j quee omnia cum non punt frustra utique
contingit , ut veritatem eorum quee. sunt , aliquo tandem opportuno
tempore , amplexemur.

1 Having regard to the number of attributed texts, it would be an in¬
tolerable task to verify this irresponsible reference. I have not found
the statement in the Divine Pymander, nor in the passages quoted
by Stobaeus.

2 See my Introduction to this edition.

127

The IV orks of Thomas V aughan

thou dost not see them. Nay, thou art so mad thou
dost think there is no use to be made of them, for thou
dost believe that knowledge is a mere peripatetical chat
and that the fruits of it are not works but words. If this
were true, I would never advise thee to spend one
minute of thy life upon learning. I would first be one
of those should ruin all libraries and universities in the
world, which God forbid any good Christian should
desire.

Look up then to heaven, and when thou seest the
celestial fires move in their swift and glorious circles,
think also there are here below some cold natures which
they overlook and about which they move incessantly,
to heat and concoct them. Consider again that the
middle spirit — I mean the air — is interposed as a re¬
frigeratory, to temper and qualify that heat which other¬
wise might be too violent. If thou dost descend lower
and fix thy thoughts where thy feet are, that thy wings
may be — like those of Mercury — at thy heels, thou wilt
find the earth surrounded with the water, and that water,
heated and stirred by the sun and his stars, abstracts from
the earth the pure, subtle, saltish parts, by which means
the water is thickened and coagulated— as with a rennet.
Out of these twro Nature generates all things. Gold
and silver, pearls and diamonds are nothing else but
water and salt of the earth concocted.1

Behold, I have in a few words discovered unto thee
the whole system of Nature and her royal highway of
generation. It is thy duty now to improve the truth,
and in my book thou mayst — if thou art wise — find thy
advantages. The four elements are the objects and
implicitly the subjects of man ; but the earth is invisible.

I know the common man will stare at this and judge me
not very sober when I affirm the earth — which of all

1 This is the physical thesis of Thomas Vaughan in respect of Alchemy,
at whatever value it stands. He does not seem to have changed his
ground subsequently.

128

Magia A da mica

substances is most gross and palpable — to be invisible.
But on my soul it is so and — which is more — the eye
of man never saw the earth, nor can it be seen 'without
Art. To make this element visible is the greatest secret
in Magic, for it is a miraculous nature and of all others
the most holy, according to that computation of Trisme-
gistus : <c the heaven, the ether, the air and the most
sacred earth.” 1 As for this feculent, gross body upon
which we walk, it is a compost and no earth ; but it hath
earth in it, and even that earth is not our magical earth.
In a word, all the elements are visible but one, and when
thou hast attained to so much perfection as to know why
God hath placed the earth in abscondito thou hast an
excellent figure whereby to know God Himself and how
He is visible, how invisible. Hermes affirmeth that in
the beginning the earth was a quagmire or quivering
kind of jelly, it being nothing else but water congealed
by the incubation and heat of the Divine Spirit. “ When
as yet the earth was a quivering, shaking substance, the
Sun afterwards shining upon it did compact it or make
it solid.”2 The same author introduceth God speaking
to the earth, and impregnating her with all sorts of seeds,
in these words : cc When God ” — saith he — “ had filled His
powerful hands with those things which are in Nature,
then shutting them close again, He said : Receive from
me, O holy earth, that art ordained to be mother of all,
lest thou shouldst want anything. When presently open¬
ing such hands- as it becomes a God to have, He poured
down all that was necessary to the constitution of things.” 3

1 Cesium , cether , cer et sacratissima terra. Referring presumably tq
those elements which were produced at the beginning of things by the

will of God, according to the Pymander, cap. i. For the text says, with
Vaughan, that common earth is degenerate and impure. — Ibid., cap. 9.

3 Cum adhuc terra tremula esset, lucente sole , compacta est.

3 Cumque manus ceque validus implesset rebus quee in Naturd ,
ambienteque erant , et pugnos valide constringens : Sunie , inquit , O
sacra terra , quee genitrix omnium es futura , ne ulla re egena videaris j
et manus , quales oportet Deum habere , expandens, de7nisit omnia ad
rerum constitutionem necessaria.

129

9

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

Now, the meaning of it is this : the Holy Spirit,
moving upon the chaos — which action some divines
compare to the incubation of a hen upon her eggs, did
together with his heat communicate other manifold in¬
fluences to the matter. For as we know the sun doth
not only dispense heat but some other secret influx, so
did God also in the creation, and from Him the sun and
all the stars received what they have, for God Himself
is a supernatural sun or fire, according to that oracle of
Zoroaster : “ That Architect Who built up the cosmos
by His unaided power was Himself another orb of fire.” 1
He did therefore hatch the matter and bring out the
secret essences, as a chick is brought out of the shell,
whence that other position of the same Zoroaster : c< By
one single fire is generated all that is.” 2 Neither did
He only generate them but He also preserves them now,
with perpetual efflux of heat and spirit. Hence He is
styled in the Oracles “ Father of men and gods, animating
abundantly the fire, the light, the ether and the worlds.”3

This is advertisement enough. And now, Reader, I
must tell thee I have met with some late attempts on my
two former discourses ; but truth is proof, and I am so
far from being overcome that I am nowhere understood.
When I first eyed the libel and its address to Philalethes,
I judged the author serious and that his design was not
to abuse me but to inform himself. This conceit quickly
vanished, for — perusing his forepart — his ears shot out
of his skin and presented him a perfect ass.4 His
observations are one continued ass’s skin and the oyster-
whores read the same philosophy every day. ’Tis a

1 Factor , qui per se operans fabrefecit mundum ,

Qucedam ignis moles erat altera.

2 Omnia sub uno igne ge?iita esse. Compare the oracle in Porphyry
concerning “an incorruptible flame” which is “the origin of all things.”

3 Pater hominumque , deumque ,

Affatim anima?is ignem, lucem, cethera , mundos.

4 The reference is to Henry More, who — under the name of Alazono
mastix Philalethes — wrote OBSERVATIONS upo7i Anthroposophia Theo-
magica and Anima Magica Abscondita. See Appendix III.

130

Magia Adamic a

scurril, senseless piece, and — as he well styles himself — «
a chip of a block-head. His qualities indeed are tran¬
scendent abroad but they are peers at home. His malice
is equal to his ignorance. I laughed to see the fool’s
disease — a flux of gale which made him still at the chops
whiles another held the press for him, like Porphyry’s
basin to Aristotle’s well. There is something in him
prodigious. His excrements run the wrong way, for his
mouth stools, and he is so far from man that he is the
aggravation to a beast. These are his parts, and for his
person I turn him over to the dog-whippers, that he may
be well lashed and bear the errata of his front imprinted
in his rear. 1 cannot yet find a fitter punishment, for
•since his head could learn nothing but nonsense — by
sequel of parts — his tail should be taught some sense.

This is all at this time ; and for my present discourse
I wish it the common fortune of truth and honesty — to
deserve well and hear ill. As for applause, I fish not so
much in the air as to catch it. It is a kind of popularity
which makes me scorn it, for I defy the noise of the
rout, because they observe not the truth but the success
of it. I do therefore commit this piece to the world
without any protection but its own worth and the estimate
of that soul that understands it. For the rest, as I cannot
force so I will not beg their approbation. I would not
be great by imposts nor rich by briefs. They may be
what they will, and I shall be what I am.

Eugenius Philalethes.

MAGIA ADAMICA

That 1 should profess magic in this discourse and justify
the professors of it withal is impiety with many but religion
with me. It is a conscience that I have learned from
authors greater than myself and scriptures greater than
both. Magic is nothing but the wisdom of the Creator
revealed and planted in the creature. It is a name — as
Agrippa saith — “ not distasteful to the very Gospel
itself.” 1 Magicians were the first attendants our Saviour
met withal in this world, and the only philosophers who
acknowledged Him in the flesh before that He Himself
discovered it. I find God conversant with them, as He
was formerly with the patriarchs. He directs them in
their travels with a star, as He did the Israelites with a
pillar of fire. He informs them of future dangers in
their dreams, that having first seen His Son they might
in the next place s'ee His salvation. This makes me
believe they were “ Sons of the prophets ” 2 as well as
“ Sons of Art ” 8 — men that were acquainted with the very
same mysteries by which the prophets acted before them.
To reconcile this science and the Masters of it to the
world is an attempt more plausible than possible, the
prejudice being so great that neither reason nor authority
can balance it. If I were to persuade a Jew to my
principles I would do it with two words — D^Din Tidn =
“the Hachamim or Wise Men have spoken it.” Give
him but the authority of his fathers and presently he

1 Compare the dedications and other preliminaries, prefixed to De
Occulta Philosophia. I do not find the actual quotation of Vaughan :
Ip si evangelio non ingratum.

2 Filii prophetarum. 3 Filii Artis.

1 32

Magia Adamic a

submits to the seal. Verily, our primitive Galileans — 1
mean those Christians whose lamps burnt near the cross
and funeral — were most compendious in their initiations.
A proselyte in those days was confirmed with a simple
“Believe,”1 and no more. Nay, the solemnity of this
short induction was such that Julian made it the topic of
his apostasy. “You have” — said he — -“nothing more
than your Crede ” to establish your religion.2 Such was
the simplicity of those first times, “ whilst as yet the
blood of Christ ran fresh,” 3 whiles His wounds were
as yet in their eyes and His blood warm at their hearts.
But alas those holy drops are frozen ; our salvation is
translated from the cross to the rack and dismembered
in the inquisition-house of Aristotle. Be not angry, O
Peripatetic, for what else shall I call thy schools, where
by several sects and factions Scripture is so seriously
murdered pro et con. A spleen first bred and afterwards
promoted by disputes, whose damnable divisions and
distinctions have minced one truth into a thousand
heretical whimsies. But the breach is not considered
divinity still is but chaff7, if it be not sifted by the engine,
if it acts not by the demonstrative hobby-horse. Thus
zeal, poisoned with logic, breathes out contentious calen¬
tures, and faith, quitting her wings and perspective, leans
on the reed of a syllogism. Certainly I cannot yet con¬
ceive how reason may judge those principles “ whose
certainty wholly depends on God ” 4 and, by consequence,
is undemonstrable without the Spirit of God. But if I
should grant that, which I will ever deny : Verily, a true,
faith consists not in reason but in love, for I receive my
principles, and believe them being received, only out of
my affection to Him that reveals them.6

Thus our Saviour would have the Jews to believe Hirfi

1 nicTTeu€T6. 2 ’Oi/5eV vir ep tt'kttc v<riv.

> 3 Du?n calebat cruor Christi.

4 Quorum veritas fiendet d sold rcvelantis authoritate.

5 Solo erga revelantem amore.

133

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

first for His own sake and when that failed for His work’s
sake. But some divines believe only for Aristotle’s sake.
If logic renders the tenet probable then it is creed ; if not
’tis Alcoran. Nevertheless, Aristotle himself — who was
first pedlar to this ware, and may for sophistry take place
of Ignatius in his own conclave — hath left us this con¬
cession : “that reason is subject to error, as well as
opinion.” 1 And Philoponus expounding these words
of his : — “We say not only science but the principle also
of science to be something whereby we understand the
terms ” 2 — hath this excellent and Christian observation : 3
“Taking indeed” — saith he — “the mind to be ^ the
principle or first cause of knowledge, not our own but
that of God which is above us ; but taking the terms to
be intellectual and Divine forms.” 4 Thus, according to
Aristotle — if you trust the comment — the Divine Mind
is the First Cause of knowledge. For if this Mind once
unfolds Himself and sheds His light upon us we shall
apprehend the intellectual forms or types of all things that
are within Him. These forms he very properly calls
opovs = Terms, because they terminate or end all things,
for by them the creature is defined and hath his individua¬
tion, or — to speak with Scotus— his “ selfness,” 5 by which
he is this and not that. This now is the demonstration
we should look after — namely, the expansion or opening
of the Divine Mind — not a syllogism that runs perhaps
on all fours. If once we be admitted to this Communion
of Light we shall be able, with the apostle, to give a reason
for our faith, but never without it. Now you are to
understand that God unfolds not Himself “ unless the
heaven of man be first unfolded.”6 “Cast off the veil

1 ''EiriSexerav rb xf/evSos oTov 8<f£a K<xl \oyiojubs.

2 Non solilm scientiam sed et principimn scientice esse aliquod dicimus
quo terminos cognoscimus.

3 The reference is apparently to Johannes Philoponus, a philosopher
and grammarian of the seventh century.

4 Meaning presumably modes of Divine Manifestation to human
minds.

5 Hcecceitie (sic). 6 Nisi magno ccelo prins patefacto.

*34

Magia Adamica

that is before your faces,” 1 and you shall be no more
blind. God ‘ is not God afar off but God at hand.
“ Behold ” — saith He — “ I stand at the door and knock.” 2
Open yourselves then, for it is written : “ If any man
opens, I will come in and sup with him.” 3 This is the
inward mystical, not the outward, typical supper ; and this
is the spiritual baptism with fire, not that elemental one
with water.

Truly I am much comforted when I consider two
things ; first, what magic did afford the first professors of
Christianity, whose knowledge and devotion brought
them from the East to Jerusalem ; secondly, that this
Art should suffer as religion doth, and for the very same
reason. The main motives which have occasioned the
present rents and divisions of the Church are the cere¬
monies and types used in it. For — without controversy
— the apostles instituted and left behind them certain
elements or signs — as Water, Oil, Salt and Lights — by
which they figured unto us some great and reverent
mysteries. But our reformers, mistaking these things for
superstitions, turned them all out of doors. But verily it
was ill done ; for if the shadow of St Peter healed shall
not these shadows of Christ do much more ? The papist,
on the contrary, knowing not the signification of these
types, did place a certain inherent holiness in them and
so fell into a very dangerous idolatory. I omit many
things which he invented of his own, as images, holy
lambs and relics, adding these dead bones to the
primitive and beauteous body of the Church. Now to
draw up the parallel : the magicians they also instituted
certain signs as the key to their Art, and these were the
same with the former, namely, Water, Oil, Salt and
Light, by which they tacitly discovered unto us their
three principles and the light of Nature — which fills and
actuates all things. The common man, perusing their

1 Amovete ergo velame7i intellectus vestri. — Agrippa.

2 Revelations, iii, 20. 3 Ibid.

13S

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

books but not their sense, took candles, common water,
oil and salt, and began to consecrate and exorcise them,
to make up his damnable and devilish magic.

The magicians had a maxim among themselves “ that
no word is efficacious in magic unless it be first animated
with the Word of God.” 1 Hence in their books there was
frequent mention made of Verbum and Sermo , which the
common man interpreting to his own fancy invented his
charms and Vocabula , by which he promised to do wonders.
The magicians in their writings did talk much of triangles
and circles, by which they intimated unto us their more
secret triplicity, with the rotation of Nature from the
beginning of her week to her Sabaoth . By this circle also
or rotation they affirmed that spirits might be bound,
meaning that the soul might be united to the body.
Presently upon this the common man fancied his triangles
and characters, with many strange cobwebs or figures and
a circle to conjure in ; but knowing not what spirit that
was which the magicians did bind he laboured and studied
to bind the devil.2 Now if thou wilt question me who
these magicians were,3 I must tell thee they were kings,
they were priests, they were prophets, men that were
acquainted with the substantial, spiritual mysteries of
religion and did deal or dispense the outward, typical part
of it to the people. Here then we may see how magic
came to be out of request : for the lawyers and common
divines who knew not these secrets, perusing the cere¬
monial, superstitious trash of some scribblers who pre¬
tended to magic, prescribed against the art itself as im-

1 Quod nulla vox operatur in magia nisi prius Dei voce formetur.

2 These are notable statements, and there are reasons for believing that
an experimental science of a far different order lies behind the formulae
and procedure of ceremonial magic. But the question is very difficult to
pursue, as there is no canon of criticism.

3 Vaughan is dreaming of Persia and the further East, but the practical
magic with which he was acquainted came out of Jewry. Now the tradi¬
tional theosophy of Israel did not deal in the symbolism of triangles and
circles, but in the hidden meaning of the Holy Word. On the other hand,
debased Kabalism did, and was the progenitor of Almadels and Grimoires.

136

Magi a Ad arnica

pious and antichristian, so that it was a capital sin to
profess it and the punishment no less than death. In the
interim those few who were masters of the science —
observing the first monitories of it — buried all in a deep
silence. But God, having suffered His truth to be
obscured for a great time, did at last stir up some resolute
and active spirits who — putting the pen to pager — expelled
this cloud and in some measure discovered thelight. The
leaders of this brave body were Cornelius Agrippa, Libanius
Gallus, the philosopher Johannes Trithemius, Georgius
Venetus, Johannes Reuchlin — called in the Greek Capnion
— with several others in their several days.1 And after
all these, as an usher to the train, Eugenius Philalethes.

Seeing then 1 have publicly undertaken a province
which I might have governed privately with much more
content and advantage, I think it not enough to have
discovered the abuses and misfortunes this science hath
suffered unless I endeavour withal to demonstrate the
antiquity of it. For certainly it is with arts as with men :
their age and continuance are good arguments of their
strength and integrity. Most apposite then was that
check of the Egyptian to Solon : cc You Grecians ” —
said he — “ are ever childish, having no ancient opinion,
no discipline of any long standing.”2 But as I confess
myself no antiquary, so I wish some Selden would stand
in this breach and make it up with those fragments which
are so near dust that time may put them in his glass.
I know for my own part it is an enterprise I cannot
sufficiently perform ; but since my hand is already in
the bag I will draw out those few pebbles I have ; and
thus I fling them at the mark.

1 These writers have been named already, either in the texts or notes,
with the exception of Reuchlin, author of De Arte Kabalistica. His
German name is Capnion. See Basnage : Histoire des Juifs, and a
note on his position as a Kabalist in my Doctrine and Literature
of the Kabalah.

2 O Solon , Solon, vos Grceci semper pueri estis , nullam antiquam
habentes opinionem, nnllam disciplinam tempore canam.

r37

The JV orks of Thomas V aughan

This art or rather this mystery is to be considered
several ways, and that because of its several subjects.
The primitive, original existence of it is in God Himself ;
for it is nothing else but the practice or operation of the
Divine Spirit working in the matter, uniting principles
into compounds and resolving those compounds into
their principles. In this sense we seek not the antiquity
of it, for it is eternal, being a notion of the Divine
Wisdom and existent before all time or the creation of
it. Secondly, we are to consider it in a derivative sense,
as it was imparted and communicated to man, and this
properly was no birth or beginning but a discovery or
revelation of the art. From this time of its revelation
we are to measure the antiquity of it, where it shall be
our task to demonstrate upon what motives God did
reveal it, as also to whom and when.

The eye discovers not beyond that stage wherein it is
conversant, but the ear receives the sound a great way
off. To give an experienced testimony of actions more
ancient than ourselves is a thing impossible for us, unless
we could look into that glass where all occurrences may
be seen — past, present and to come.1 I must therefore
build my discourse on the traditions of those men to
whom the word — both written and mystical — was en¬
trusted ; and these were the Jews in general, but more
particularly their Kabalists. It is not my intention to
rest on these Rabbins as f undamentals, but I will justify
their assertions out of Scripture and entertain my reader
with proofs both Divine and human. Finally, I will
pass out of Judea into Egypt and Greece, where again
I shall meet with these mysteries and prove that this
science did stream — as the chemists say their Salt-

1 I am surprised that this statement has never been quoted as an early
enunciation in England of the now familiar hypothesis concerning the
so-called Astral Light, or universal glass of vision. The hypothesis is
not my concern, knowing as a mystic that the way of reality is a way
out of the sphere of images, but it should be important as a record of the
past for those who are in the occult schools.

r38

Magi a Ad arnica

Fountain doth — out of Jewry and watered the whole
earth.

It is the constant opinion of the Hebrews that before
the Fall of Adam there was a more plentiful and large
communion between heaven and earth, God and the
elements, than there is now in our days?1 But upon the
transgression of the first man, Malkuth 2 — say the Kabalists
—was cut off from the Ban? so that a breach was made
between both worlds and their channel of influence dis¬
continued. Now Malkuth is the invisible Archetypal
Moon,4 by which our visible celestial moon is governed
and impregnated. And truly it may be that upon this
retreat of the Divine Light from inferiors those spots
and darkness which we now see succeeded in the body
of this planet,5 and not in her alone but about the sun
also, as it hath been discovered by the telescope. Thus —
say they — God, to punish the sin of Adam, withdrew
Himself from the creatures., so that they were not feasted
with the same measure of influences as formerly. For
„ the Archetypal Moon, which is placed in the D^wn =
Hashamaim 6 to receive and convey down the influx of
the six superior, invisible planets,7 was — as the Jews
. affirm — either separated from the Ban or her breasts
were so sealed up that she could not dispense her milk to
inferiors in that happy and primitive abundance. But

1 This of course is in virtue of the fact that Adam in his primeval state
knew the glory of God, as noted already.

2 That is, the World of Action.

3 Meaning tVk = Tree. Knorr von Rosenroth says that the Supple¬
ments of the Zohar term Binah , or Supernal Understanding, the Root
of the Tree, that is, root of the direct light, Malkuth being the root of
reflected light. The thesis is therefore that Malkuth was cut off from
Binah ; the Shekinah above was in separation from the Shekinah below.

4 There is authority for this attribution in the Kabalistic work called
The Garden of Pomegranates.

5 So also in the perfect state, according to the Zohar, the moon
neither waxes nor wanes but reflects perfectly in its fulness the sun of
Tiphereth .

The Archetypal Moon is Shekinah.

7 The Zohar knows nothing of invisible planets.

x39

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

because I would not dwell long on this point let us hear
the Kabalist himself state it in a clear and apposite phrase.
“ In the beginning of the creation of the world God did
descend and cohabitate with things here below. And
when the Divine habitation was here below, the heavens
and the earth were found to be united, and the vital
springs and channels were in their perfection, and did
flow from the superior to the inferior world ; and God
was found to fill all things, both above and beneath.
Adam the first man came and sinned, whereupon the
descents from above were restrained and their channels
were broken ; and the watercourse was no more ; and
the Divine Cohabitation ceased, and the society was
divided.” 1 *

Thus for my Rabbi. Now because I have promised
Scripture to my Kabalism, I will submit the tradition to
Moses, and truly that Rabbi also is of my side, for this 1
read in Genesis. “And unto Adam he said, Because
thou . . . hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it : cursed is the
ground for thy sake : in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all
the days of thy life ; Thorns also and thistles shall it
bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb of the
field ; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till
thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou
taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return.” 2 This is the curse, and Adam was so sensible of
it that he acquaintgd his posterity with it. For Lamech,
prophesying of his son Noah, hath these words : “This
same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of
our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath

1 Initio creationis mnndi divina cohabitatio erat descendens in in -
feriora , et cum esset divina cohabitatio inferius reperti sunt ccdi et terra
uniti , et erant fontes et canales activi in perfectione , et trahebantur a
superiore ad inferius , et inveniebatur Deus complens super?ie et inf erne.
Venit Adam primus et peccavit , et diruti sunt descensus , et confracti
sunt canales , et desiit aquae ductus, et cessavit divina cohabitatio , et divisa
est societas.

2 Genesis, iii, 17-19.

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♦

cursed.” 1 And this indeed was accomplished in some
sense after the Flood, as the same Scripture tells us.
“ And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse
the ground any more for man’s sake.” 2 Here now we
are to consider two things — first the curse itself and next
the latitude of it. To manifest the nature of the curse
and what it was you must know that God essentially is
light and evil is darkness. . The evil properly is a corrup¬
tion that immediately takes place upon the removal of
that which is good. Thus God having removed His
candlestick and light from the elements, presently the
darkness and cold of the matter prevailed,, so that the
earth was nearer her first deformity and by consequence
less fruitful and vital: Heaven and hell, that is, light
and darkness, are the two extremes which consummate
good and evil. But there are some mean blessings which
are but in ordine , or disposing to heaven, which is their
last perfection ; and such were these blessings which God
recalled upon the trangression of the first man. Again
there are some evils which are but degrees conducing to
their last extremity, or hell ; and such was this curse or
evil which succeeded the transgression. Thus our Saviour
under these notions of blessed or cursed comprehends the
inhabitants of light and darkness : “ Come, ye blessed ”
and “ Depart from me, ye cursed.” 3 In a word then,
the curse was nothing else but an act repeated or a re¬
straint of those blessings which God of His mere good¬
ness had formerly communicated to His creatures. And
thus I conceive there is a very fair and full harmony
between Moses and the Kabalists.4 But to omit their
depositions, though great and high, we are not to seek in

#1 Genesis, v, 29. ’ 2 Ibid., viii, 21.

3 St Matt., xxv, 34, 41.

* In the hands of Zoharic and other doctors of theosophical Jewry the
Pentateuch went into a melting pot and there was brought out from it the
Secret Doctrine in Israel. Furthermore the liquescent matter had
additions from many sources. Vaughan’s remark is interesting because
it illustrates the extent of his critical scholarship.

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this point for the testimony of an angel. For the tutor
of Esdras, amongst his other mysterious instructions,
hath also this doctrine : tc When Adam transgressed my
statutes then was decreed that now is done. Then were
the entrances of this world made narrow, full of sorrow
and travail : they are but few and evil, full of perils, and
very painful. For the entrances of the elder world were
wide and sure, and brought immortal fruit.” 1

Thus much for the curse itself : now for the latitude
of it. It is true that it was intended chiefly for man, who
was the only cause of it, but extended to the elements,
in order to him and for his sake. For if God had
excluded him from Eden and continued the earth in her
primitive glories He had but turned him out of one
paradise into another ; wherefore he fits the dungeon to
the slave and sends a corruptible man into a corruptible
world. But in truth it was not man nor the earth alone
that suffered in this curse but all other creatures also.
For saith God to the serpent : “ Thou art cursed above
all cattle, and above every beast of the field,” 2 so that
cattle and beasts also were cursed in some measure, but
this serpent above them all. To this also agrees the
apostle in his Epistle to the Romans, where he hath these
words : <c For the creature was made subject to vanity,
not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected
the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall
be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the children of God.” 3 Here by the
creature he understands not man but the inferior species,
which he distinguisheth from the children of God, though
he allows them both the same liberty.4 But this is more
plain out of the subsequent texts, where he makes a clear
•difference between man and the whole creation. “ For

1 II Esdras, vii. 11-13. 2 Genesis, iii, 14.

3 Romans, viii, 20, 21.

4 This is Vaughan’s manner of understanding verse 19 of St Paul’s
text : “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God.”

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we know ” — saith he — “ that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” 1
Here we see the first fruits of the Spirit referred to man ;
and why not some second, subordinate fruits of it to the
creatures in general?2 For as they were cursed in the
Fall of man, for man’s sake, so it seems in his restitution
they shall be also blessed for his sake. But of this
enough.

Let us now suni up and consider the several incon¬
veniences our first parent was subject to, for they will
be of some use with us hereafter. First of all he was
ejected from the presence of God and exposed to the
malice and temptations of the devil. He was altered
from good to bad, frofn incorruptible to corruptible.
“ In the day ” — saith the Scripture — “ that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die.” 3 He was excluded from
a glorious Paradise and confined to a base world, whose
sickly, infected elements, conspiring with his own nature,
did assist and hasten that death which already began to
reign in his body. Heaven did mourn over him, the
earth and all her generations about him. He looked
upon himself as a felon and a murderer, being guilty of
that curse and corruption which succeeded in the world
because of his Fall, as we have sufficiently proved out
of the Mosaical and Kabalistical traditions. He was
ignorant and therefore hopeless of life eternal,4 and for

1 Romans, viii, 22, 23.

2 Those who suggest that St Paul is making a distinction between “ the
first-fruits of the Spirit,” understood as the elect, and the world of man at
large — as between the “ creature ” and the “ children of God ” — may be
referred to viii, 37, of the same text: “Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature.” The word creature is used in a cosmic sense and the
promised restitution is catholic.

3 Genesis, ii, 17.

4 According to Reuchlin, with whose writings Vaughan was evidently
acquainted, Adam died spiritually in eating the forbidden fruit, so that the

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this temporal, present life he was not acquainted with
the provisions of it. The elements of husbandry were
not as yet known ; there was neither house nOr plough,
nor any of those manual arts which make up a worldly
providence. He was exposed to the violence of rains
and winds, frosts and snows, and in a word deprived of
all comforts — spiritual and natural. What should I say
more ? He was a mere stranger in this world, could not
distinguish medicines from poisons, neither was he skilled
in the ordinary preparations of meat and drink. He had
no victuals ready to his hands but the crude, unseasoned
herbage of the earth, so that he must either starve or
feed as Nebuchadnezzar did, with the beasts of the field.
He heard indeed sometimes of a Tree of Life in Eden,
but the vegetables of this world — for aught he knew —
might be so many Trees of Death. I conclude therefore
that he had some instructor to initiate him in the ways
of life and to shew him the intricate and narrow path
of that wilderness. For without question his outward
miseries and his inward despair were motives whereupon
God did reveal a certain art unto him, by which he might
relieve his present necessities and embrace a firm hope
of a future and glorious restitution. For God having
ordained a second, eternal Adam did by some mysterious
experience manifest the possibility of His coming to the
first, who being now -full of despair and overcharged with
the guilt of his own sin was a very fit patient for so
Divine and Merciful a Physician. But omitting our own
reasons — which we might produce to this purpose — let
us repair to the Kabalists, who indeed are very high in
the point : and thus they deliver themselves.

God — say they — having made fast the doors of His
Paradise and turned out Adam, sometime the dearest of

Divine Sentence was fulfilled there and then upon him. He was not
merely made subject to dissolution. Morte moriebatur , says Reuchlin.
He quotes also a Kabalistic teaching, that the just in their death are
called living, but the wicked are dead, even during their life.— De Arte
Cabalistica, Lib. i.

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Magia Adamica .

His creatures, did — notwithstanding the present punish¬
ment — retain His former affection towards him still.
For God is said to love His creatures, not that there is
anything lovely in them without their Creator but in
that He desires their perfection. That is to say, He
would have them conformable to Himself and fit to
receive His image or similitude, which is a spiritual
impress of His beauty. Now, to restore this similitude
in Adam was impossible unless God should reassume that
to Himself which was now fallen from Him. So tran¬
scendent and almost incredible a mercy had God treasured
up in His secret will, being resolved to unite the nature
of man to His own and so vindicate him from death by
taking him into the Deity, which is the true fountain
and centre of life.1 This will — say the Kabalists — was
first revealed to the angels, and that by God Himself, in
these words : “ Behold an Adam like one of us, knowing
good and evil.” 2 This speech they call “ a most secret
conference which God had with the blessed angels in the
Inner Chambers of Heaven.”3 Now, that the same
Scripture should speak one thing in the letter and another
in the mystery is not strange to me, how difficult soever
it may seem to another. For verily this text may not
concern the first Adam, who knowing evil by committing
it could not be like God in respect of that knowledge,
which made him sinful and altogether unlike Him.
For God — if I may so express it — knows the evil only
speculatively,4 inasmuch as nothing can escape His

1 It must be said that Kabalism does not contain the doctrine of
absorption in God suggested here. There is no taking of man into the
Deity. There is union with the Supernals through Shekinah in Divine
Understanding, but the unmanifest God is in the transcendence ; and
this is God not only unknown but unknowable, as the Zohar tells us.

2 Genesis, iv, 21, which reads in the Authorised Version : “ Behold the
man is become as one of us” ; and the Vulgate : Ecce Adam quasi unus
ex nobis f actus est.

3 Orationem occultissimam a Creatore mundi cum beatis angelis in sues
Divinitatis Penetralibus habitam.

4 We have to remember, according to the Sepher Yetzirah — which
is perhaps the earliest purely Kabalistic text — that the Ten Sephiroth —

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knowledge, and therefore is not guilty of evil : for — as
Trithemius hath well observed — c< the knowledge of evil
is not evil, but the practice of it.” 1 It remains then that
this speech concerned the Second Adam, Christ Jesus,
Who knew the evil but did not commit it and therefore
was like one of us,” that is, dike one of the Trinity,
knowing good and evil and yet no way guilty of the
evil. This primitive and compendious gospel was no
sooner imparted to the angels but they became ministers
of it, the Law — as St Paul saith — being ordained in
their hands till Christ should take it into His own ; 2
and their administration to man took beginning with
this oracle.

Thus — say the Kabalists — Raziel the angel was presently
dispatched to communicate the intelligence to Adam and
to acquaint him with the mysteries of both worlds,
eternal and temporal.3 For as he could not obtain the
blessings of the eternal world unless by a true faith he
apprehended the Three Eternal Principles of it, so neither’
could he fully enjoy the benefits of this temporal world
unless he truly understood the three visible substances
whereof it consists. For there are Three above and
three beneath, Three — as St John saith — in Heaven and
three on earth. The inferior bear witness of the Superior
and are their only proper receptacles. They are signatures
and created books where we may read the Mysteries of

which are worlds of being — were emanated from God in the hiddenness
and were an abyss of evil as well as of goodness. So also God formed
man of a spirit of good and a spirit of evil, according to the Zohar. The
good which issues from evil is regarded a little crudely as the justification
of its origin. The Kabalistic doctors were not troubled by the problem
of that origin and were willing to accept the consequences of their belief
in God as the Creator of all. See my Secret Doctrine in Israel,
pp. 37> 8o, 86 and 96.

1 Scientia mali non est malum , sed usus.

2 Galatians, iii, 19, which says that the Law was “ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator.”

3 There is authority for this in the Zohar, according to which the
angel Raziel was commissioned to entrust Adam with a secret book
wherein was expounded the holy mystery of wisdom.

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Magia Ad arnica

•

the Supernatural Trinity.1 But to proceed in our former
discourse : the Kabalists* do not only attribute a guardian
to Adam but to every one of the patriarchs, allowing them
their presidents and tutors, both to assist and instruct
them in their wearisome and worldly peregrinations— a
doctrine in my opinion not more religious than necessary,
how prodigious soever it may seem to some fantastic,
insipid theologicians.2 For certainly it is impossible for
us to find out mysteries of ourselves : we must either
have the Spirit of God or the instruction of His ministers,
whether they be men or angels. And thus we see out
of the traditions and doctrines of the Jews how their
Kabalah and our magic came first into the world. I shall
now examine the Scriptures and consult with them, where
— if I am not much mistaken — I shall find some conse¬
quences which must needs depend on these principles :
and thus I apply myself to the task.

The first harvest I read of was that of Cain and the first
flocks those of Abel. A shepherd’s life in those early days
was no difficult profession, it being an employment of more
care than art. But how the earth was ploughed up before
the sound of Tubal’s hammers is a piece of husbandry
unknown to these days. However, it was a labour per¬
formed, and not without retribution. Cain hath his sheaves
as well as Abel his lambs: both of them receive and both
acknowledge the benefit. I find established in these two a
certain priesthood.: they attend both to the altar ; and the
first blood was shed by sacrifice, the second by murder.

Now, so dull am I and so short of syllogisms — those
strange pumps and hydragogues which lave the truth
ex puteo , like water — that all my reason cannot make these

1 The three that bear witness, on earth, according to I St John, v, 8,
are “the spirit, and the water, and. the blood,” and that in which they
agree is the unity of our human personality.

2 The authority is Abraham Ben Dior, that is, Abraham Ben David
Ha Levi, who died A.D. 1126. He assigned guardian angels to prophets
as well as patriarchs — that of Moses being Metatron, the Great Angel of
the Presence.

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The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

men levites without revelation. For I desire to know how
came they first to sacrifice and by whom were they initiated ?
If you will say by Adam the question is deferred but not
satisfied. For I would know further: in what school was
Adam instructed ? Now, that it was impossible for him
to invent these shadows and sacraments of himself I will
undertake to demonstrate, and that by invincible reason
which no adversary shall dare to contradict.

It is most certain that the hope and expectation of man
in matters of sacrifices consist in the thing signified and
not in the sign itself. For the material, corruptible
shadow is not the object of faith but the spiritual, eternal
prototype which answers to it and makes the dead sign
effectual. The sacrifices of the Old Testament and the
elements of the New can be no way acceptable with God .
but inasmuch as they have a relation to Christ Jesus, Who
is the great, perfect sacrifice offered up once for all. It is
plain then that sacrifices were first instituted upon super¬
natural grounds, for in Nature there is no reason to be
found why God should be pleased with the death of His
creatures. Nay, the very contrary is written in that Book,
for death — both natural and violent — proceeds not from
the pleasure but from the displeasure of the Creator. I
know the learned Alkind 1 builds the efficiency of sacrifices
on a sympathy of parts with the great world ; for there
is in every animal a portion of the • star-fire, which fire —
upon the dissolution of the compound — is united to the
general fire from whence it first came and produceth a
sense or motion in the limbus to which it is united.
This indeed is true, but that motion causeth no joy there
and by consequence no reward to the sacrifice ; 2 for I

1 Alchindius, Alkendi or Alkindi, an Arabian philosopher and
physician who is ascribed to an uncertain period between the eighth and
twelfth centuries. He is accredited with two hundred treatises and three
have been translated into Latin : (i) Astrorum Indices, &c., 1507 ; (2)
De Rerum Gradibus, 1531 ; and (3) De Medicinarum Compositarum
Gradibus, 1603.

2 This reverie seems personal to Thomas Vaughan and is unintelligible.

148

Magi a Ad arnica

shall make it to appear elsewhere that the Astral Mother
doth mourn and not rejoice at the death of her children.1
Now if we look back on these two first sacrifices, we shall
find Abel and his oblation accepted, which could not be,
had he not offered it up as a symbol or figure of his
Saviour. To drive home my argument then, I say that
this knowledge of the type in whom all offerings were
acceptable could not be obtained by any human industry
but by sole revelation. For the Passion of Christ Jesus
was an ordinance wrapped up in the secret will of God,
and he that would know it must of necessity be of His
council. Hence it is called in Scripture the Hidden
Mystery, for the truth and certainty of it was not to be
received from any but only from Him Who had both the
will and the power to ordain it. But if you will tell me
— like the author of the Predicables — that men sacrificed
at first by the instinct of Nature — and without any respect
to the type — I shall indeed thank you for my mirth
whensoever you give me so just a reason to laugh.

It remains then a most firm, infallible foundation that
Adam was first instructed concerning the Passion, and in *
order to that he was taught further to sacrifice and offer
up the blood of beasts as types and prodromes of the
blood of Christ Jesus — the altars of the Law being but
steps to the cross of the Gospel. Now, if it be objected
that several nations have sacrificed who did not know
God at all, much less the Son of God, Who is the proto¬
type and perfection of all oblations : to this I answer that
the custom of sacrificing was communicated to heathens
by tradition from the first man, who having instructed
his own children they also delivered it to their posterity,
so that this vizard of religion remained, though the sub¬
stance and true doctrine of it was lost. And thus in my
opinion it sufficiently appears that the first man did
sacrifice not by Nature — as Porphyrius, that enemy of

1 There seems no recurrence to this subject in the later writings of
Vaughan.

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our religion, would have it — but some by revelation,
others by custom and tradition. But — now 1 think upon
it — I have Scripture to confirm me concerning this primitive
revelation, for Solomon numbering those several blessings
which the Divine Wisdom imparted to the ancient fathers,
amongst the rest, specifies her indulgence to Adam : 1
“ She preserved saith he — <£ the first formed father of
the world, that wTas created alone, and brought him out of
his Fall.” Here I find Adam in some measure restored,
and how could that be but by discovering unto him the
Great Restorative Christ Jesus, the Second Adam in
Whom he was to believe ? For without faith he could
not have been brought out of his Fall, and without Christ
revealed and preached unto him he could have no faith,
for he knew not what to believe. It remains then that
he was instructed, for as in these last days we are taught
by the Son of God and His apostles, so in those first
times they were taught by the Spirit of God and His
ministering angels. These were their tutors, for of them
they heard the Word ; and verily we are told that faith
comes by hearing.

It is now — as I think — sufficiently proved that Adam
had his metaphysics from above. Our next service — and
perhaps somewhat difficult— is to give some probable if
not demonstrative reasons that they came not alone but
had their physics also to attend them. I know the
Scriptures are not positive in this point, and hence the
sects will lug their consequence of reprobation. Truly,
for my part, I desire not their ruin 2 but their patience.
I have — though against the precept3 — for many years
attended their philosophy ; and if they spend a few
hours on my spermalogy it may cost them some part of

1 Wisdom of Solomon, x, i, here treated by Vaughan as if it were
canonical. It will be noted that he has no doubt respecting the author¬
ship.

2 The original reads Hum , which seems nonsensical.

3 The reference is to COLOSSIANS, .ii, 8 : “ Beware lest any man spoil
you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men.”

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their justice but none of their favours.1 But that we may-
come to the thing in hand : I hold it very necessary to
distinguish arts, for I have not yet seen any author who
hath fully considered their difference. The Art I speak
of is truly physical in subject, method and effect. But
as for arts publicly professed and to the disadvantage of
truth allowed, not one of them is so qualified, for they
are mere knacks and baubles of the hand or brain, having
no firm fundamentals in Nature. These, in my opinion,
Solomon numbers amongst his vanities, when he speaks
in a certain place “ that God hath made man upright ;
but they have sought out many inventions.” 2 Of these
inventions we have a short catalogue in Genesis, where
Moses separates the corn from the chaff, the works of
God from the whimsies of man. Thus we read that
Jabal was the father of such as dwell in tents, his brother
Jubal the father of all such as handle the harp and organ,
and Tubal Cain an instructor of every artificer in brass
and iron.3 What mischiefs have succeeded this brass and
iron Cyclops I need not tell you.4 * If you know not the
fates of former times you may study your own ; you live
in an age that can instruct you. Verily it is worth our
observation that these arts and their tools proceeded not
from the posterity of Seth, in which line our Saviour
stands, for — as we shall make it appear hereafter —
questionless they had a better knowledge ; but they
proceeded from the seed of Cain, who in action was a
murderer and in the circumstance of it a fratricide.

To be short there is no vanity [like]6 to the vanity of
sciences, I mean those inventions and their professors

1 Vaughan gives a marginal reference to Acts, xvii, 18.

2 Ecclesiastes, vii, 29.

3 Genesis, iv, 20-22.

4 But the words “every artificer” cover the metal-work of peace as well
as war, and one of the Victorian poets, Charles Mackay, tells us very

pleasantly how Tubal Cain “fashion’d the first plough-share.”

6 I have inserted this word, which seems necessary to the meaning of
the sentence.

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which produce nothing true and natural but effects either
false or in their ends corrupt and violent. But it is no
conquest to tread on ruins : Cornelius Agrippa hath
already laid these rodomontados in the dirt and that so
handsomely they we|re never since of a general reputation.1
Give me an art then that is a perfect, entire map of the
creation, that can lead me directly to the knowledge of
the true God, by which I can discover those universal,
invisible essences which are subordinate to Him — an Art
that is no way subject to evil and by which I can attain
to all the secrets and mysteries in Nature. This is the
Art wherein the physics of Adam and the patriarchs con¬
sisted, and that this Art was revealed to him I will
undertake to demonstrate by Scriptures and the practice
.of his posterity.

This truth, I am certain, will seem difficult — if not
incredible — to most men, the providence of God being
prejudiced in this point, for they will not allow Him to
instruct us in natural things but only in supernaturals,
such as may concern our souls and their salvation. As
for our bodies, He must not prescribe for their necessities
by teaching us the true physic and discovering the laws
of His creation ; for though He made Nature yet He
may not tutor us in natural sciences. By no means :
Aristotle and his syllogism can do it much better.
Certainly this opinion is nothing different from that of
the epicure — that “ God takes the air, I know not in
what walks and quarters of His heaven, but thinks not
of us mortals who are here under His feet.” 2 Question¬
less, a most eminent impiety, to make God — as Tertullian
said of old — “ an idle, unprofitable nobody in this world,
having nothing to do with our affairs, as they are natural

1 Agrippa’s book on the vanity of the sciences includes all arts and
modes and methods of knowledge in the field of its criticism. It may be
compared with the lamentation pf Robert Fludd over their degeneration
from original perfection in his APOLOGIA Compendiaria or defence of
the Rosicrucian Society.

2 Deum ad cceli cardines obambulare , et nulla tangi mortalium curd.

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Magia Adamica

and human.” 1 Sure these men are afraid lest His mercy
should diminish His majesty : they suffer Him to trade
only with our immortal parts, not with corruptible bodies
that have most need of His assistance. They are base
subjects which He hath turned over to Galen and the
apothecaries.

Not so, my friend : He hath created physic and brings
it out of the earth ; but the Galenist knows it not. He
it is that pities our afflictions ; He is the good Samaritan
that doth not pass by us in our miseries, but pours oil
and wine into our wounds. This I know very well, and
I will prove it out of His own mouth. Did not He
instruct Noah to build an ark, to pitch it within and
without, and this to save life in a time when He Himself
was resolved to destroy it — in a time when the world was
acquainted with no mechanics but a little husbandry and
a few knacks of Tubal Cain and his brethren ? But even
those inventions also proceeded from that light which He
planted in man,2 an essence perpetually busy and whose
ambition it is to perform wonders. Yet he3 seldom
produceth anything of his own but what is fantastic and
monstrous. Did He not put His Spirit in Bezaleel, the
son of Uri and in Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach ?4 Did
He not teach them to devise cunning works, to work in
gold, in silver, in brass, in cutting of stones, in setting
of them, in carving of timber and in all manner of
workmanship ? But to come nearer to our purpose : did
He not inform Moses in the composition of the oil and
the perfume ?• Did He not teach him the symptoms of
the leprosy and the cure thereof ? Did He not prescribe
a plaster of figs for Hezekiah and — to use your own term

1 Otiosum et inexercitum neminem in rebus humanis. — APOLOGIA
Adversus Gentes, cap. 24.

2 The argument has a side of danger, for there is no principle which
will exclude the inventions due to the ingenium of Galen.

3 The pronouns of Vaughan are not infrequently confused and confus
ing. The present one refers to man generally, but those of the previous
and succeeding sentence to God.

4 Exodus, xxxi, 2, 3, and xxxv, 34.

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— an ophthalmic for Tobit ? Did not Jesus Christ Him¬
self, in the days of His flesh, work most of His miracles
on our bodies, though His great cure was that of our
souls ? Is He not the same then to-day as yesterday ?
Nay, was He not the same from the beginning ? Did
He care for our bodies then and doth He neglect them
now? Or, being seated on the right hand of the Majesty
on high, is He less good because more glorious ? God
forbid— to think so were a sin in superlatives. Let us
then take Him for our President, for He is not — saith
St Paul — such an one “ which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities”;1 but He is indeed one^
that looks to our present estate as well as to our future
and is as sensible of our infirmity as He is careful of our
immortality. When He was on earth with the dust of

that earth He made the blind to see,2 and of mere water

• *

He made wine. These were the visible elements of His
physic, or rather — so the notion doth not offend you —
of His magic. But shall I shew you His library and in
that His threefold philosophy ? Observe then first and
censure afterwards. “ Have salt in yourselves ” ; and
again : uYe are the salt of the earth” ; and in a third
place : “ Salt is good.” This is His 'mineral doctrine : 3
will you know His vegetable ? It is in two little books
— a mustard-seed and a lily.4 Lastly He hath His
animal magic, and truly that is a scroll sealed up : I
know not who may open it.5 He “ needed not that any
should testify of man : for He knew what was in man.” 6
And what of all this blasphemy ? says some splenetic
sophister. Behold, I will0 instruct thee. First of all, have
salt in thyself, for it will season thy soul that is infected

1 Hebrews, iv, 15. 2 St John, cap . ix passim .

3 Ibid., iii, 2—1 1.

4 St Mark, ix, 50 ; St Matt., v, 13 ; St Luke, xiv, 34.

6 It should not be difficult in view of the preceding intimations con¬
cerning the doctrine of Christ in respect of minerals and vegetables. It

is all spiritually understood, in respect of the three kingdoms.

6 St John, ii, 25.

1 54

Magia Adamica

and preserve thy brains that are putrefied with the dirt of
Aristotle. In the second place, learn what the salt of the
earth is to which the disciples are compared— and that by
a regular, solid speculation. Thirdly, come up to ex¬
perience, and by a physical, legitimate practice know in
what sense “ salt is most good.” Fourthly, examine the
lilies by fire and the water of fire, that thou mayst see
their miraculous, invisible treasures and wherein that
speech of truth is verified — “ that Solomon in all his glory
was .not arrayed like one of these.”1 If thou wilt
attempt a higher magic thou mayst, being first seasoned ;
but in this place it is not my design to lead thee to it.
Animal and vegetable mysteries thou canst never perfectly
obtain without the knowledge of the first mineral secret,
namely, the salt of the earth — which is salt and no salt 2 —
and the preparation thereof. This discourse, I confess,
is somewhat remote from that I first intended, namely,
that philosophy was revealed to Adam as well as divinity ;
but some pates are blocks in their own ways and — as
I told you formerly — will not believe that God dispenseth
with, any natural secrets. This made me produce these
few instances out of Scripture as preparatives to the pro¬
position itself and — if he be anything ingenious — to the
reader. His compliance to my principles I expect not ;
nay, I am so far from it he may suspend his charity.
Let him be as rigid as justice can make him, for I wish
not to prevail in anything but the truth ; and in the name
of truth thus I begin.

You have been told formerly that Cain and Abel were
instructed in matters of sacrifice by their father Adam ;

1 St Matt., vi, 28, 29 ; St Luke, xii, 27.

2 Like other hypothetical prime principles of alchemy, the Salt of the
Philosophers is called by many contradictory names — as for example,
First Matter, Stone of the Philosophers, Foliated Earth. It is confused
also with Sulphur and Mercury, as if the three principles were one and
the same thing, which indeed is one of the theses. Geber says that it
has no appearance of salt till it is caused to assume this in the operation
performed upon it. For the rest, it cannot be extracted from any known
salts and yet is the root of all.

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but Cain having murdered his brother Abel his priest¬
hood descended to Seth, and this is confirmed by those
faculties which attended his posterity : for Enoch, Lamech
and Noah were all of them prophets. It troubles you
perhaps that I attribute a priesthood to Abel, but I
have — besides his own practice — Christ’s testimony for it,
Who accounts the blood of Abel amongst that of the per¬
secuted prophets and wise men.1 Now, to conclude that
these men had no knowledge in philosophy because the
Scripture doth not mention any use they made of it is
an argument that denies something and proves nothing.2
To shew the vanity of this inference, I will give you
an example out of Moses himself. We know very well
there are no prophecies of Abraham extant, neither do
we read anywhere that ever he did prophesy ; but not¬
withstanding he was a prophet. For God reproving
Abimelech King of Gerar, who had taken Sarah from
him3 — supposing she had been his sister — hath these
words : “ Now therefore restore the man his wife ; for
he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt
live.” 4 Hence we may learn that the Holy Ghost doth
not always mention the secret perfections of the soul in
the public character of the person. Truly I should not
be so impudent as to expect your assent to this doctrine
if the Scriptures were silent in every text, if I did not
find there some infallible steps of magic, such as may lead
me without a lantern to the Archives of the Art itself.
I know the troop and tumult of other affairs are both the
many and the main in the history of Moses. But in the
whole current I meet with some acts which may not be
numbered amongst the fortunes of the patriarchs but are
performances extraordinary and speak their causes not
common.

1 St Luke, xi, 50, 51 ; St Matt., xxiii, 35.

2 Vaughan forgets that the burden of proof is on him and not on the
side of denial. He might have done much worse than acquire some
counsels of reason from Aristotle himself.

Genesis, xx, 7. 4 Ibid., xx, 7.

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Magia Ad arnica

I have ever admired that discipline of Eliezer the
steward of Abraham who when he prayed at the well in
Mesopotamia could make his camels also kneel.1 I must
not believe there was any hocus in this or that the spirit
of Banks2 may be the spirit of prayer. Jacob makes a
covenant with Laban that all the spotted and brown
cattle in his flocks should be assigned to him for his
wages. The bargain is no sooner made but he finds an
art to multiply his own colours and sends his father-in-law
almost a woolgathering. “ And Jacob took him rods of
green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut-tree ; and
pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear
which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he
had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering-
troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should
conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks con¬
ceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ring-
straked, speckled and spotted.” 3 As for that which the
Scripture tells us elsewhere, namely, that Jacob “ saw
in a dream, and, behold the rams which leaped upon the
cattle were ringstraked, speckled and grisled ” : 4 this
doth no way impair our assertion or prove this genera¬
tion miraculous and supernatural. For no man, I
believe, is so mad as to think those appearances or rams
of the dream did leap and supply the natural males of
the flock — God using this apparition only to signify the
truth of that art Jacob acted by and to tell him that his
hopes were effected. But I shall not insist long on any
particular, and therefore I will pass from this dream to
another. Joseph being seventeen years old — an age of
some discretion — propounds a vision to his father, not
loosely and to no purpose, as we tell one another of our
dreams, but expecting — I believe — an interpretation, as

1 Genesis, xxiv, 1 1.

2 There was a famous showman of this name, but the reference is
perhaps to some obscure prophet, and there was a cloud of these and of
astrologers at Vaughan’s period.

s Genesis, xxx, 37-40. 4 Ibid., xxxi, 10, 12.

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knowing that his father had the skill to expound it.
The wise patriarch, being not ignorant of the secrets of
the two luminaries, attributes males to the sun and
females to the moon, then allows a third signification to
the minor stars, and lastly answers his son with a question :
“ What is this dream that thou hast dreamed ? Shall I
and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow
down ourselves to thee to the earth ? ” 1

Now, I think no man will deny but the interpretation
of dreams belongs to magic and hath been ever sought
after as a piece of secret learning. True it is when the
interpreter receives his knowledge immediately from God,
as Daniel did, then it falls not within the limits of a
natural science ; but I speak of a physical exposition, as
this was, which depends on certain abstruse similitudes ;
for he that knows the analogy of parts to parts in this
great body which we call the world may know what e^ery
sign signifies and by consequence may prove a good in¬
terpreter of dreams. As for Jacob’s first practice, which
we have formerly mentioned, namely, the propagation of
his speckled flocks, it is an effect so purely magical that
our most obstinate adversaries dare not question it. I
could cite one place more which refers to this patriarch
and points at the fundamentals of magic ; but being
annexed to this discourse it would discover too much.2
I shall therefore leave it to the search of those who are
considerable proficients, if not masters in the art. The
sum of all is this : man of himself could not attain to true
knowledge ; it was God in mere mercy did instruct him.
To confirm this, I shall desire the reader to consider his
own experience. We have in these days many magical
books extant, wherein the Art is discovered — both truly
and plainly. We have also an infinite number of men

1 Genesis, xxxiii, 10.

2 The reference might seem obviously to the wrestling of Jacob with
an angel at Peniel ; but later on in the text it is said that Jacob’s Ladder
is the greatest mystery in the Kabalah.

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Magia Adamica

who study those books, but after the endeavours of a
long life not one in ten thousand understands them.
Now, if we — with all these advantages — cannot attain to
the secrets of Nature, shall we think those first fathers
did, who had none of our libraries to assist them, nor
any learned man upon earth to instruct them ? Could
they do that without means which we cannot do with
means, and those too very considerable ? The Peripa¬
tetics perhaps will tell me their syllogism is the engine
that can perform all this.1 Let them then in barbaro or
baroco demonstrate the First Matter of the Philosopher’s
Stone. But they will tell me there is no such thing.
Behold, I tell them again — and assure them too on my
salvation — there is ; but in truth their logic will never
find it out.

It is clear then that God at first instructed Adam ;
from him his children received it ; and by their tradition
it descended to the patriarchs, every father bequeathing
these secrets to his child as his best and most lasting
legacy.2 I have now attended Jacob, the Israel of God,
both in his pilgrimage at Padan-aram and in his typical
inheritance, the earnest of the Land of Canaan. But two
removals perfect not the wanderings of a patriarch. God
calls him from the. habitation of his fathers to the prison
of his posterity and provides him a place of freedom in
the house of bondage. I must follow him where his
fortune leads, from Isaac’s Hebron to the Goshen of
Pharaoh, then back again to the cave and dust of
Machpelah. As for his sons and their train, who attended
his motion thither, I find not any particular remembrance
of them, only Moses tells me of a general exit : “ Joseph
died and all his brethren, and all that generation.” 3 I

1 Any argument, how bad soever, is good enough to cast at a syllogism,
but the answer is that Aristotelians as such laid no claim to the discovery
of secrets of Nature by the method of logic.

2 Somewhat crudely expressed here, this is the theory of transmission
as regards the Secret Tradition in Israel.

3 Exodus, i, 6.

09

The IV orks of Thomas V aughan

must now then — to prove the continuance and succession
of this Art — address myself to the court, where I shall
find the son of Levi newly translated from his ark and
bulrushes. Yet there is something may be said of Joseph,
and verily it proves how common magic was in those
days and the effects of it no news to the sons of Jacob ;
for having conveyed his cup into the sack of Benjamin—
and by that policy detained his brethren — he asks them :
“ What deed is this that 'ye have done? Wot ye not
that such a man as I am can certainly divine ?

In this speech he makes his brethren no strangers to
the performances of Art but rather makes their famili¬
arity therewith an argument against them : “ Wot ye
not ? ” But the following words are very effectual and
tell us what qualified persons the ancient Magi were.
They were indeed — as he speaks of himself — such as
Joseph was, princes and rulers of the people, not beggarly
gipsies and mountebanks, as our doctors are now. It
was the ambition of the great in those days to be good,
and as these secrets proceeded from God, so were they
also entertained by the gods — I mean, by kings. For
saith the Scripture : “ I have said ye are gods ” 2 — a
name communicated to them because they had the power
to do wonders, for in this magical sense the true God
speaks to Moses : “ See, I have made thee a god to
Pharaoh : and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.”3
And verily this true knowledge and this title that belongs
to it did that false serpent pretend to our first parents :
“Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”4 But
’tis not this subtle dragon but that good crucified serpent 5
that can give us both this knowledge and this title : for
“all things were made by Him ; and without Him was
not anything made that was made.” 6 If He made them
then He can teach us also how they were made.

I must now refer myself to Moses, who at his first

1 Genesis, xliv, 15. 2 Psalm lxxxii, 6. 3 Exodus, vii, 1.

4 Genesis, iii, 5. 5 Bonus ille Serpens. 6 St John, i, 3.

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Magia Adamica

acquaintance with God saw many transmutations — one in
his own flesh, another of the rod in his hand, with a third
promised and afterwards performed upon water. It is
written of him that he was skilled in all the learning of
the Egyptians ; but for my part I do much question what
kind of learning that was, the Scripture assuring me — -and
that by the pen of Moses — their wonders were effected
by enchantments.1 This is certain : their learning was
ancient, for 1 find magicians in Egypt four hundred and
thirty years and upwards before Jamnes and Jambres.
This is confirmed by Pharaoh’s dream, which his own
sorcerers and wizards could not interpret, but Joseph
alone expounded it.2 Verily it cannot be denied but
some branches of this art, though extremely corrupted,
were dispersed among all nations by tradition from the
first man, and this appears by more testimonies than one.
For in the land of Canaan, before ever Israel possessed it,
Debir — which Athniel the son of Kenaz conquered — was
an university, at least had in it a famous library, where¬
fore the Jews called it Kiriath-Sepharim .3 I might speak
in this place of the universality of religion, for never yet
was there a people but had some confused notion of a
Deity, though accompanied with lamentable ceremonies
and superstitions. Besides, the religions of all nations
have always pretended to powers extraordinary, even to
the performance of miracles and the healing of all diseases,
and this by some secret means, not known to the common
man. And verily if we examine all religions, whether
false or true, we shall not find one but it pretends to
something that is mystical. Certainly if men be not re¬
solved against reason, they must grant these obliquities
in matters of faith proceeded from the corruption of some
principles received — as we see that heretics are but so

1 Exodus, vii, n, 12. 2 Genesis, ix, 41.

3 See Joshua, xv, 15-17, and compare Judges, i, 11-13. As regards
the famous library, there may be a Talmudic tradition with which I am
unacquainted, or it may be a speculation of Vaughan, founded on the
name Kirjath-Sepher—o. ity of letters, or of the book.

l6l II

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

many false interpreters. But notwithstanding in those
very errors there remained some marks and imitations of
the first truth. Hence it comes to pass that all parties
agree in the action but not in the object. For example,
Israel did sacrifice and the heathen did sacrifice, but the
one to God, the other to his idol. Neither were they
only conformable in some rites and solemnities of divinity,
but the heathens also had some hints left of the secret
learning and philosophy of the patriarchs, as we may see
in their false magic, which consisted for the most part in
astrological observations, images, charms and characters.

But it is my design to keep in the road, not to follow
these deviations and misfortunes of the Art, which not¬
withstanding want not the weight of argument — the
existence of things being as well proved by their mis¬
carriage as by their success. To proceed then, I say that
during the pilgrimage of the patriarchs this knowledge
was delivered by tradition from the father to his child ;
and indeed it could be no otherwise, for what was Israel
in those days but a private family ? Notwithstanding,
when God appointed them their possession, and that this
private house was multiplied to a nation, then these
secrets remained with the elders of the tribes, as they
did formerly with the father of the family. These elders
no doubt were the Mosaical septuagint who made up the
Sanhedrim , God having selected some from the rest to
be the stewards and dispensers of His mysteries. Now,
that Moses was acquainted with all the abstruse opera¬
tions and principles of Nature is a truth, I suppose, which
no man will resist. That the Sanhedrim also participated
of the same instruction and knowledge with him is plain
out of Scripture, where we read that God “ took of the
spirit ” that was in Moses “ and gave it unto the seventy
elders.” 1

But lest any man should deny that which we take
for granted — namely, the philosophy of Moses — I shall

1 Numbers, xi, 25.

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Magia Adamica

demonstrate out of his own books, both by reason as
also by his practice, that he was a natural magician. First
of all then, it is most absurd and therefore improbable
that he should write of the creation who was no way
skilled in the secrets of God and Nature,1 both which
must of necessity be known before we should undertake
to write of the creation. But Moses did write of it :
ergo. Now I desire to know what he hath written —
truth or a lie. If truth, how dare you deny his know¬
ledge ? If a lie — which God forbid — why will you be¬
lieve him ? You will tell me perhaps he hath done it
only in general terms ; and I can tell you that Aristotle
hath done no otherwise. But think you in good earnest
that he knew no more than what he did write ? There
is nothing you can say in this point but we can disprove
it, for in Genesis he hath discovered many particulars,
and especially those secrets which have most relation to
this Art. For instance, he hath discovered the miner a
of man, or that substance out of which man and all his
fellow- creatures were made.2 This is the First Matter of
the Philosopher’s Stone. Moses calls it sometimes water,
sometimes earth ; for in a certain place I read thus :
“ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly
above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.”3 But
elsewhere we read otherwise : “ But out of the ground
the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every
fowl of the air.”4 In this later text he tells us that God
made every fowl of the air out of the ground, but in the
former it is written He made them out of the water.

1 It is much ado about nothing, for if Moses was ex hypothesi inspired —
as Vaughan certainly held — his philosophy or learning is nihil ad rein.

2 The text of Genesis is stultified by this statement and all that follows
it. It is said that the waters brought forth moving creatures and fowls ;
that the earth brought forth living creatures thereunto belonging ; but that
the Elohim made man in their own image and likeness. Again, it is not
worth debating, but the point is that Vaughan had no real qualifications
as an interpreter of Scripture.

3 Genesis, i, 20. 4 Genesis, ii, 19.

1^3

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Certainly Aristotle and his organ can never reconcile
these two places, but a little skill in magic will make
them kiss and be friends without a philtre. This sub¬
stance then is both earth and water, yet neither of them
in their common complexions. But it is a thick water
and a subtle earth. In plain terms it is a slimy, spermatic,
viscous mass, impregnated with all powers, celestial and
terrestrial. The philosophers call it water and no water,
earth and no earth. And why may not Moses speak as
they do ? Or why may not they write as Moses did ?
This is the true Damascene earth,1 out of which God
made man.2 You then that would be chemists, seem not
to be wiser than God but use that subject in your Art
which God Himself makes use of in Nature. He is the
best workman and knows what matter is most fit for His
work. He that will imitate Him in the effect must first
imitate Him in the subject. Talk not then of flint-
stones and antimony : they are the poet’s pin-dust and
egg-shells. Seek this earth and this water.

But this is not all that Moses hath written to this
purpose : I could cite many more magical and mystical
places ; but in so doing I should be too open — wherefore
I must forbear. I shall now speak of his practice, and
truly this is it which no distinction, nor any other logical
quibble can waive. Nothing but experience can repel
this argument ; and thus it runs. And Moses <c took
the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and
ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and
made the children of Israel drink of it.”3 Certainly here
was a strange kind of spice and an art as strange as the
spice. This calf was pure gold, the Israelites having

1 1 do not remember any earth, literal or symbolical, which is designated
under this name in the texts of alchemy.

2 The Biblical allocations are dust according to Genesis, David and
Solomon, or clay according to Isaiah. As Vaughan appeals to the
Scriptures, it seems fair to say that they offer no warrant for his hypothesis
of a viscous slime ; but the thesis is not of course worth pursuing.

3 Exodus, xxxii, 20.

I 64

Magia Ad arnica

contributed their earrings to the fabric. Now would I
gladly know by what means so solid and heavy a body as
gold may be brought to such a light powder that it may
be sprinkled on the face of the water and afterwards
drunk up. I am sure here was aurum potabile ,* and
Moses could never have brought the calf to this pass
had he not ploughed with our heifer. But of this enough :
if any man think he did it by common fire let him also
do the like, and when he hath performed he may sell his
powder to the apothecaries.

If I should insist in this place on the Mosaical Cere¬
monial Law, with its several reverend shadows and their
significations, I might lose myself in a wilderness of
mysteries, both Divine and natural. For verily that
whole system is but one vast screen, or a certain mighty
umbrage drawn over two worlds, visible and invisible.
But these are things of a higher speculation than the
scope of our present discourse will admit of. I only
inform the reader that the Law hath both a shell and a
kernel : it is the letter speaks but the spirit interprets.
To this agrees Gregory Nazienzen, who makes a two¬
fold Law, tov ypajuL/uiaTog and tov irvey/j-arog — one literal,
another spiritual. And elsewhere he mentions to cpai-
vo/j.€vov tov vo/ulov, teat, to k pviTTonxevov, the hidden and
the manifest part of the Law, the manifest part — saith
he — being appointed rolg iroWoig kcu Karoo /u evovcn — for
many men and such whose thoughts were fixed here
below — but the hidden rots ’oXlyoig Ka\ ra avoo (ppovovcri —
for few only whose minds aspired upwards to heavenly
things.2 Now that the Law, being given, might benefit
the people in both parts, spiritual and literal, therefore
did the Lawgiver institute the Sanhedrim , a council of
seventy elders, upon whom he had poured his spirit, that

1 The Potable Gold of alchemy, about which Rulandus said in 1612
that “ those who prepare it at this day do so rather to the destruction than
the salvation of men.” — Lexicon Alchemize, s.v. Aurum Potabile.

2 Gregory Nazienzen : De Statu EPISCOP.

i65

The W orks of Th omas V aughan

they might discern — as Esdras did — the deep things of
the night 1 — in plain terms, the hidden things of his Law.
From these elders the Kabalah — I believe — had its
original, for they imparted their knowledge by word of
mouth to their successors, and hence it came to pass
that the science itself was styled Kabalah — that is, a
reception.2 This continued so long as Israel held
together, but when their frame began to discompose and
the dilapidations of that house proved desperate, then
Esdras, a prophet incomparable — notwithstanding the
brand of Apocrypha — writ that law in tables of box
which God Himself had sometime written in tables of
stone.3 As for the more secret and mysterious part
thereof, it was written at the same time in seventy secret
books, according to the number of elders in whose hearts
it had been some time written.4

And this was the very first time the spirit married the
letter ; for these sacraments were not trusted formerly
to corruptible volumes but to the Eternal Tables of the
Soul. But it may be there is a blind generation who
will believe nothing but what they see at hand and there¬
fore will deny that Esdras composed any such books.
To these owls — though an unequal match — I shall
oppose the honour of Picus, who himself affirms that in
his time he met with the Secret Books of Esdras and

1 The reference is possibly to II Esdras, xiii, i et seq.

2 Ibid., cap. xiv, 24.

3 The traditional story is that the inward mysteries of the Law were
communicated on or about Mount Sinai to a secret council by Moses.
For the warrant, such as it is, we must refer to Exodus, xviii, 25, 26,
on the institution of “heads over the people,” but this was for the judg¬
ment of “ every small matter.” The “ hard causes ” were still brought to
Moses, and it was he only who acted as an intermediary with God. The
council of seventy elders was ordained later by Divine command, some
part of the spirit of Moses being promised thereto. — Numbers, xi, 16.
It was obviously executive and most certainly not doctrinal or expository.

4 Esdras is instructed to declare some things and to hide others,
xiv, 1 ; to publish some things and shew some secretly to the wise, xiv,
26 ; and he produced with his scribes two hundred and four books, xiv,
44 ; but of these seventy were reserved for the wise — xiv, 46— presumably,
the council of elders.

166

i

Magi a Adamica

bought them with a great price.1 Nor was this all, for
Eugenius, Bishop of Rome, ordered their translation ;
but he dying the translators also fell asleep.2 It is true
indeed something may be objected to me in this place
concerning the Kabalah — an art which I in no way approve
of, neither do I condemn it, as our adversaries condemn
magic, before I understand it. For I have spent some
years in the search and contemplation thereof. But why
then should I propose that for a truth to others which I
account for an error myself ? To this I answer that I
condemn not the true Kabalah but the inventions of
some dispersed wandering rabbis, whose brains had more
of distraction than their fortunes. Of this thirteenth
tribe I understand the satirist when he promiseth so
largely :

What dreams soe’er thou wilt the Jews do sell.3

These, I say, have produced a certain upstart, bastard
Kabalah, which consists altogether in certain alphabetical
knacks, ends always in the letter where it begins, and the
varieties of it are grown voluminous.4 As for the more
ancient and physical traditions of the Kabalah, I embrace
them for so many sacred truths ; but verily those truths
were unknown to most of those rabbins whom I have
seen, even to Rambam himself — I mean Rabbi Moses
/Egyptius^ whom the Jews have so magnified with their
famous hyperbole : “ From Moses unto Moses there

hath not arisen one like unto Moses.” 5

But to deal ingenuously with my readers, I say the

1 What he bought actually was the codices of the Sefther Ha Zohar. —
The Secret Doctrine in Israel, p. i.

2 It was Pope Julius II whom Picus is supposed to have interested
in the strange texts which he acquired.

3 Qualiacunque voles Judcci somnia ve?idant.

4 The casual reader will gain a sufficient insight regarding these
varieties by glancing at La Science Cabalistique of Lenain, which
appeared originally at Amiens in 1823 and was reprinted at Paris in

I9°9’

6 A Mose ad Mose?i non surrexit sicnt Moses

167

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Kabalah I admit of consists of two parts — the name and
thing.1 The former part is merely typical in reference
to the latter, serving only as the shadow to the substance.
I will give you some instances. The literal Kabalah —
which is but a veil cast over the secrets of the physical —
hath Three Principles, commonly styled Tres Matres , or
the Three Mothers.2 In the masculine complexion the
Jews call them = Ernes, in the feminine = Asam,
and they are n Mleph , d Mem , tD Shin . Now I will shew
you how the physical Kabalah expounds the literal.
Saith the great Abraham,5 or as some think Rabbi Akiba :
“ The three Mothers, Ernes , or Aleph , Mem and Shin, are
Air, Water and Fire: a still Water” — mark that — “a
hissing Fire, and Air the middle spirit.” 4 Again saith
the same Rabbi : “ The Three Mothers, Ernes , in this
world are Air, Water and Fire. The heavens were made
of the Fire, the earth was made of the Water ” — mark
well this Kabalism — “ and the Air proceeded from a
middle spirit.”5 Now, when the Kabalist speaks of the
generation of the Three Mothers he brings in ten Secret
Principles which — I think — ten men have not understood
since the Sanhearim , such nonsense do I find in most
authors when they undertake to discourse of them. The
First Principle is a Spirit which sits in his primitive in¬
comprehensible retreat, like water in its subterraneous
channel before it springs. The Second Principle is the

1 By “ the name ” is meant apparently the external form and system,
but the great text of all — which is the Zohar — has happily no system
whatever.

2 In this and what follows Vaughan derives from Sepher Yetzirah,
already cited, traditionally the work of the patriarch Abraham and by
later speculation ascribed to Rabbi Akiba, as stated above.

3 The Sepher Yetzirah divides the Hebrew letters into Three
Mothers, allocated as Vaughan tells us ; seven doubles, referred to the
seven planets ; and twelve simple letters, answering to the signs of the
Zodiac. But there are various subsidiary attributions. The Latin form
of the text quoted above reads : Ernes , id est , Aer , Aqua et Ignis j Aqua
quieta , Ignis sibilans et Aer spiritus medius.

4 Tres Matres — Ernes — in mundo : Aer , Aqua et Ignis. Cceli ex Igne
creati sunt , Terra ex Aqua ; Aer egressus est ex spirt tu , qui stat medius.

6 In retrocessu suo fontana.

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Magia Adamica

Voice of that first Spirit. This breaks forth like a well-
spring where the water flows out of the earth and is
discovered to the eye. They call it “ Spirit from Spirit.” 1
The Third Principle is a Spirit which proceeds both from
the first Spirit and from his voice.2 The Fourth Principle
is a certain Water which proceeds from the Third Spirit,3
and out of that Water goeth forth Air and Fire. But
God forbid that I should speak any more of them
publicly : 4 it is enough that we know the original of the
creature and to Whom we ought to ascribe it.

The Kabalist when he would tell us what God did
with the Three Mothers useth no other phrase than this :
“ He weighed ” — saith he — “ Aleph with all and all with
Aleph , and so He did with the other Mothers.” 5 This
is very plain, if you consider the various mixtures of the
elements and their secret proportions. And so much
for the physical part of the Kabalah : I will now shew
you the metaphysical. It is strange to consider what
unity of spirit and doctrine there is amongst all the
Children of Wisdom. This proves infallibly that there
is an universal Schoolmaster, Who is present with all
flesh and Whose principles are ever uniform — namely,
the Spirit of God. The Kabalists agree with all the
world of magicians that man in spiritual mysteries is
both agent and patient,6 This is plain ; for Jacob’s
Ladder is the greatest mystery in the Kabalah.7 Here
we find two extremes : Jacob is one at the foot of the
Ladder and God is the other Who stands above it,

1 Spiritus ex Spiritu. 2 Spiritus ex spiritibus.

3 Aqua de spiritu.

4 This is ridiculous occultism. Vaughan has given nothing but what
is found in the Sepher Yetzirah, and the most ordinary reader having
any translation in his hand can find more for himself.

5 Ponder avit Aleph cum omnibus et omnia cum Aleph , et sic de
singulis.

0 In the sense above all that the soul— as bride— is feminine in respect
of the Christ-Spirit— as Spouse. But this is the Kabalah Christianised.

7 Because it signifies the bond of union, in virtue whereof that which
is above is like unto that which is below and that which is below is like
unto that which is above, as the Hermetic text affirms.

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shedding some secret influx of spirit upon Jacob, who
in this place typifies man in general. The rounds or
steps in the Ladder signify the middle natures by which
Jacob is united to God, inferiors united to superiors.
As for the angels of whom it is said that they ascended
and descended by the Ladder, their motion proves they
were not of the superior hierarchy but some other secret
essences, for they ascended first and descended afterwards ;
but if they had been from above they had descended first
— which is contrary to the text.1 And here, Reader, I
would have thee study. Now to return to Jacob, it is
written of him that he was asleep, but this is a mystical
speech, for it signifies death— namely, that death which
the Kabalist calls Mors Osculi , or the Death of the Kiss,
of which I must not speak one syllable.2 To be
short, they agree with us over the Secret of Theology,3
that no word is efficacious in magic unless it be first
quickened by the Word of God. This appears out of
their Shemhamphorash ,4 for they hold not the names of
angels effectual unless some Name of God — as rr = YAH
or Sn = EL — be united to them. Then — say they — in
the power and virtue of those Names they may work.
An example hereof we have in all extracted names, as
Vehu-Iah , Elem-Iah , Jeli-El , Sita-El. Now, this practice
in the letter was a most subtle adumbration of the con¬
junction of the Substantial Word or Spirit with the Water.
See that you understand me rightly, for I mean with the
elements : and so much for the truth.

To conclude, I would have the reader observe that

1 The human aspirations went up and the Divine Influx came down.

2 The state of mystical death and the Kiss of Shekinah. Rosenroth,
translating the Garden of Pomegranates, gives Oscula autem sunt
adhcesio Spiritus cum spiritu. — Kabbala Denudata. Pars I, Apparatus
i?i Libruni Sohar , p. 600.

3 In arcano theologies.

4 The Divine Name of seventy-two letters, according to the Kabalah.
See Petrus Galatinus : De Arcanis Catholics Veritatis, Lib. ii,
c. 17, and Athanasius Kircher : (EDIPUS .Egyptiactjs, Tom . ii, Chassis
iv, Cabala Hebrceoi'um, c. 6.

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Magia A da mica

the false, grammatical Kabalah consists only in rotations
of the alphabet and a metathesis of letters in the text,
by which means the Scripture hath suffered many racks
and excoriations. As for the true Kabalah it useth the
letter only for artifice, whereby to obscure and hide her
physical secrets — as the Egyptians heretofore did use
their hieroglyphics. In this sense the primitive pro¬
fessors of this art had a literal Kabalah, as it appears
by that wonderful and most ancient inscription in the
rock in Mount Horeb. It contains a prophecy of the
Virgin Mother and her Son Christ Jesus, engraven in
hieroglyphics, framed by combination of the Hebrew
letters, but by whom God only knows : it may be by
Moses or Elijah. This is most certain : it is to be seen
there this day, and we have for it the testimonies of
Thomas Obecinus, a most learned Franciscan, and Petrus
a Valle, a gentleman, who travelled — both of them — into
those parts.1

Now, that the learning of the Jews — I mean their
Kabalah — was chemical and ended in true physical per¬
formances cannot be better proved than by the Book of
Abraham the Jew, wherein he laid down the secrets of
this Art in indifferent plain terms and figures, and that
for the benefit of his unhappy countrymen, when — by
the wrath of God — they were scattered over all the
world.2 This book was accidentally found by Nicholas

1 The Travels of Pietro della Valle into “East India” and Arabia
were written originally in Italian. An English translation appeared in
1665 and a French version in instalments between 1662 and 1665.

2 This is perhaps the most extraordinary argument preferred even by
a maker of dreams like Vaughan. If it be assumed for a moment that
there was ever a literal Book of Abraham the Jew and that it is correctly
described by the writer who calls himself Nicholas Flamel, it follows that
an alchemical treatise was bequeathed by an Israelite for the consolation
of his people — if it so happened that they could understand it. But this
treatise — as described in the memorial concerning it — has nothing to do
with the Kabalah of Jewry, and in what manner it proves the latter
physical passes understanding. The one known text which adapts
Kabalistic symbolism — as eg. the Tree of the Sephiroth — to the purposes
of alchemy is called Aesh Mezareph and is known by the translation of
certain fragments and their inclusion in the Apparatus of Rosenroth. As

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The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

Flamel, a Frenchman, and with the help of it he
attained at last to that miraculous medicine which men
call the Philosopher's Stone. But let us hear the Monsieur
himself describe it. “ There fell into my hands ” — saith
he — “ for the sum of two florins a gilded book, very old
and large. It was not of paper nor parchment, as other
books be, but it was made of delicate rinds — as it seemed
to me — of tender young trees. The cover of it was of
brass, well bound, all engraven with letters or strange
figures ; and for my part I think they might well be
Greek characters, or some such ancient language. Sure
I am I could not read them, and I know well they were
not notes nor letters of the Latin, nor of the Gaul, for of
them I understood a little. As for that which was within
it, the bark-leaves were engraven and with admirable
diligence written with a point of iron in fair and neat
Latin letters, coloured. It contained thrice seven leaves,
for so were the leaves counted at the top, and always
every seventh leaf was without any writing ; but instead
thereof in the first seventh leaf there was painted a Virgin
and serpents swallowing her up ; in the second seventh
a cross, where a serpent was crucified ; and in the last
seventh there were painted deserts or wildernesses, in
the midst whereof ran many fair fountains, from whence
there issued forth a number of serpents, which ran up
and down, here and there. Upon the first of the leaves
was written in great capital letters of gold : Abraham the
Jew, Prince, Priest, Levite, Astrologer and Philosopher
to the nation of the Jews, by the wrath of God dispersed
among the Gauls, sendeth Health.

“ After this it was filled with great execrations and
curses — with this word Maranatha which was often

regards Nicholas Flamel and his Book of Abraham the Jew, the whole
subject calls for a new consideration at the hands of criticism. The
historical basis of the legend began to be questioned in the middle of the
eighteenth century. The legend itself— otherwise the autobiographical
romance — was first printed in 1561. About earlier copies in manuscript
I cannot speak.

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Magia Adamica

repeated there — against every person that should cast his
eyes upon it, if he were not sacrificer or scribe. He that
sold me this book knew not what it was worth, no more
than I when I bought it. I believe it had been stolen or
taken by violence from the miserable Jews, or found hid
in some part of the ancient place of their habitation.
Within the book, in the second leaf, he comforted his
nation, counselling them to fly vices and above all
idolatry, attending with sweet patience the coming of the
Messiah, Who should vanquish all the people of the
earth and should reign with His people in glory eternally.
Without doubt this had been some wise and understand¬
ing man. In the third leaf and in all the other writings
that followed — to help his captive nation to pay their
tributes to the Roman Emperors, and to do other things
which I will not speak of — he taught them in common
words the transmutation of metals. He painted the
vessels by the sides and he informed them of the colours
and of all the rest, except the first agent, of which he
spake not a word, but only — as he said — in the fourth
and fifth leaves he had figured it with very great cunning
and workmanship. For though it was well and intelli¬
gibly figured and painted, yet no man could ever have been
able to understand it without being well skilled in their
Kabalah — which goeth by tradition — and without having
well studied their books. The fourth and fifth leaf
therefore was without any writing, all full of fair figures
enlightened, for the work was very exquisite. First he
painted' a young man with wings at his ankles, having
in his hand a caducean rod, writhen about with two
serpents, wherewith he struck upon a helmet which
covered his head. He seemed to my small judgment to
be Mercury, the pagan god. Against him there came
running and flying with open wings a great old man,
who upon his head had an hour-glass fastened and in his
hands a hook or scythe, like death, with the which — in
terrible and furious manner — he would have cut off the

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feet of Mercury. On the other side of the fourth leaf
he painted a fair flower on the top of a very high
mountain, which was sore shaken with the North wind.
It had the root blue, the flowers white and red, the leaves
shining like fine gold. And round about it the dragons
and griffins of the North made their nests.

“ On the fifth leaf there was a fair rose-tree flowered
in the midst of a sweet garden, climbing up against a
hollow oak, at the foot whereof boiled a fountain of most
white water, which ran headlong down into the depths.
Notwithstanding it passed first among the hands of in¬
finite people who digged in the earth, seeking for it ; but
— because they were blind — none of them knew it, except
here and there one which considered the weight. On
the last side of the fifth leaf was painted a King with a
great falchion, who caused to be killed in his presence by
some soldiers a great multitude of little infants, whose
mothers wept at the feet of the merciless soldiers. The
blood of these infants was afterwards gathered up by
other soldiers and put in a great vessel, whereto the Sun
and Moon came to bathe themselves. And thus you see
that which was in the first five leaves. I will not repre¬
sent unto you that which was written in good and in¬
telligible Latin in all the other written leaves, for God
would punish me, because I should commit a greater
wickedness than he who — as it is said — wished that all
the men of the world had but one head that he might
cut it off at one blow.”

Thus far Nicholas Flamel.1

I could now pass from Moses to Christ, from the Old
Testament to the New — not that I would interpret these
but request the sense of the illuminated. I desire to
know what my Saviour means by the Key of Knowledge

1 The text above represents less than half the personal memorial, which
goes on to recount the quest and adventures of Flamel in his endeavour
to understand the book, his final attainment of the great secret, his
manner of life subsequently and the works of charity which he performed
by the “projection of the Red Stone.”

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which the lawyers — as He tells me and them too — had
taken away.1 Questionless it cannot signify the Law
itself, for that was not taken away, being read in the
Synagogue every Sabbath. But to let go this : I am
certain, and I could prove it all along from His birth
to His passion, that the doctrine of Christ Jesus is not
only agreeable to the laws of Nature but is verified and
established thereby. When I speak of the laws of Nature,
1 mind not her excessive, irregular appetites and inclina¬
tions, to which she hath been subject since her corruption
— for even Galen looked on those obliquities as diseases,
but studied Nature herself as their cure. We know by
experience that too much of anything weakens and destroys
our nature ; but if we live temperately and according to
law we are well, because our course of life accords with
Nature. Hence diet is a prime rule in physic, far better
indeed than the pharmacopoeia ; for those sluttish receipts
do but oppress the stomach, being no fit fuel for a
celestial fire. Believe it then, these excessive, bestial
appetites proceeded from our Fall, for Nature of herself
is no lavish, insatiable glut but a most nice, delicate
essence. This appears by those fits and pangs she is
subject to whensoever she is overcharged. In common,
customary excesses there is not any but knows this truth
by experience. Indeed in spiritual sins the body is not
immediately troubled but the conscience is terrified, and
surely the body cannot be very well when the soul itself
is sick. We see then that corruption and sin do not so
much agree with us as they do disturb us, for in what
sense can our enemies be our friends or those things that
destroy Nature be agreeable to Nature ? How then
shall we judge of the Gospel ? Shall we say that the
preservation of man is contrary to man and that the
doctrine of life agrees not with life itself r God forbid.
The laws of the resurrection are founded upon those of
the creation and those of regeneration upon those of

1 St Luke, xi, 52.

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generation ; for in all these God works upon one and the
same matter by one and the same Spirit.1 Now that it is
so — I mean that there is a harmony between Nature and
the Gospel — I will prove out of the Sinic Monument of
Kim Cim, priest of Judea. In the year of redemption
1625 there was digged up in a village of China called
Sanxuen a square stone, being near ten measures of an
hand-breadth long and five broad. In the uppermost
part of this stone was figured a cross and underneath it
an inscription in Sinic characters, being the title to the
monument, which I find thus rendered in the Latin :

LAPIS IN LAUDEM ET MEMORIAM JETERNAM
LEGIS LUCIS ET VERITATIS PORTAT2E
DE JUDEA ET IN CHINA
PROMULGATE
ERECTUS.

That is : “ A stone erected to the praise and eternal
remembrance of the Law of Light and Truth, brought
out of Judea and published in China.” After this
followed the body of the monument, being a relation
how the Gospel of Christ Jesus was brought by one Olo
Puen out of Judea and afterwards — by the assistance
of God — planted in China. This happened in the year
of our Lord 636. Kim Cim, the author of this history,
in the very beginning of it, speaks mysteriously of the
creation. Then he mentions three hundred and sixty
five sorts of sectaries who succeeded one another, all
of them striving who should get most proselytes. Some
of their vague opinions he recites, which indeed are
very suitable with the rudiments and vagaries of the
heathen philosophers. Lastly, he describes the pro¬
fessors of Christianity, with their habits of life and the

1 The analogy here instituted is true only if regeneration is a work
performed upon the body of man ; but if the Spirit of God is working
upon the spirit of man the comparison does not hold, and the subject,
moreover, is not the same as those waters of creation on which the Spirit
moved at the beginning. This is one of those cases in which Vaughan’s
oft-quoted warrants in Genesis rise up against him.

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Magia Adamica

excellency of their law. cc It is a hard matter ” — saith
he—1 “ to find a fit name for their Law, seeing the effect
of it is to illuminate and fill all with knowledge.1 It was
necessary therefore to call it Kim ki ao — that is, the
Great Law of Light.”2 To be short Olo Puen was
admitted to the Court by Tai Cum Ven Huamti> King of
China. Here his doctrine was thoroughly searched,
examined and sifted by the King himself, who — having
found it to be true and solid — caused it to be proclaimed
throughout his dominions. Now, upon what this doctrine
was founded, and what estimate the King had both of
it and it’s professor, we may easily gather from the words
of his proclamation. First then, where he mentions Olo
Puen he calls him “a man of great virtue or power.”3
It seems he did something more than prate and preach,
could confirm his doctrine — as the apostles did theirs —
not with words only but with works. Secondly, the
proclamation — speaking of his doctrine — runs thus :
“ The drift of whose teachings we have examined from
the very fundamentals : we find his doctrine very excellent,
without any worldly noise and principally grounded on
the creation of the world.” 4 And again in the same
place : “ His doctrine is but of few words, not full of
noise and notions, neither doth he build his truth on
superficial probabilities.” 6

Thus we see the Incarnation and Birth of Christ
Jesus — which to the common philosopher are fables and
impossibilities but in the book of Nature plain, evident

1 See Athanasius Kircher : Monumenti Sinici, quod Anno
Domini 1625 ter? is in ipsa China erutum , &c., 1672. Vaughan drew his
information from earlier particulars, which I have not identified.

2 Difficile est ei nomen congruum reperire , cum ejus effectus sit
illuminare et omnia claritate perfundere ; unde necessarium fuit ea?n
appellare : Kim ki ao — hoc est , Legem claram et magnam.

3 Magnce virtutis hominem.

4 Cujus intentum docendi nos a fundamentis examinantes , invenimus
doctrmam ejus ad?nodum excellentem et sine strepitu exterio? i, fundaiam
principaliter in creatione mundi.

6 Doctrina ejus non est multorum verborum , nec superficie tenus sua?n
fundat veritatem.

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truths — were proved and demonstrated by the primitive
apostles and teachers out of the creation of the world.
But instead of such teachers we have in these our days
two epidemical goblins — a schoolman and a saint for¬
sooth.1 The one swells with a syllogistical pride, the
other wears a broad face of revelation. The first cannot
tell me why grass is green, the second with all his devo¬
tion knows not ABC, yet pretends he to that infinite
spirit which knows all in all. And truly of them both
this last is the worst. Surely the devil hath been very
busy to put out the candle, for had all written truths
been extant this false learning and hypocrisy could never
have prevailed. Kim Cim mentions seven and twenty
books which Christ Jesus left on earth to further the
conversion of the world. It may be we have not one
of them, for though the books of the New Testament
are just so many, yet being all written — at least some of
them — a long time after Christ they may not well pass
for those Scriptures which this author attributes to our
Saviour, even at the time of His Ascension. What should
I speak of those many books cited in the Old Testament
but nowhere to be found, which if they were now extant
no doubt but they would prove so many reverend,
invincible patrons of magic ? But ink and paper will
perish, for the hand of man hath made nothing eternal.
The truth only is incorruptible, and where the letter
fails she shifts that body and lives in the spirit.

I have, not without some labour, now traced this
science from the very Fall of man to the day of his
redemption, a long and solitary pilgrimage, the paths
being unfrequented because of the briars and scruples
of antiquity, and in some places overgrown with the
poppy of oblivion. I will not deny but in the shades

1 It would be interesting to know what saint was in the mind of our
author, but there is nothing in the context which will justify or even
tolerate any speculation. It is not the Angel of the Schools, for he also
was a schoolman.

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Magia Adamica

and ivy of this wilderness there are some birds of night,
owls and bats, of a different feather from our phenix :
I mean some conjurers whose dark, indirect affection to
the name of magic made them invent traditions more
prodigious than their practices. These I have purposely
avoided, lest they should wormwood my stream and 1
seduce the reader through all these groves and solitudes
to the Waters of Marah.1 The next stage I must move
to is that whence I came out at first with the Israelites,
namely, Egypt. Here — if books fail me — the stones
will cry out. Magic having been so enthroned in this
place it seems she would be buried here also. So many
monuments did she hide in this earth which have been
since digged up and serve now to prove that she was
sometime above ground. To begin then, I will first
speak of the Egyptian theology, that you may see how
far they have advanced, having no leader but the light
of Nature. Trismegistus is so orthodox and plain in
the Mystery of the Trinity the Scripture itself exceeds
him not ; 2 but he being a particular author, and one
perhaps that knew more than his order in general, I shall
at this time dispense with his authority. Their catholic
doctrine, and wherein I find them all to agree is this.
Emepht ,3 whereby they express their Supreme God — and
verily they mind the true One — signifies properly an
Intelligence or Spirit converting all things into Himself
and Himself into all things. This is very sound Divinity
and philosophy, if it be rightly understood. Now — say
they — Emepht produced an egg out of his mouth, which
tradition Kircher expounds imperfectly, and withal errone-

1 The reference is to a spurious later Kabalism which allocated occult
powers to operations performed with Divine Names and so produced a
particular form of talismanic and ceremonial magic, out of which came a
thousand infamous and foolish processes.

2 The implication is that The Divine Pymander and other writings
ascribed to Hermes are documents of ancient Egypt, or are at least a
faithful mirror of old Egyptian theology. A view like this was possible in
the mid-seventeenth century.

3 See Faber’s Pagan Idolatry, Bk. vi, c. 2.

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ously.1 In the production of this egg was manifested
another Deity, which they call Ptha , and out of some
other natures and substances enclosed in the egg this
Ptha formed all things. But to deal a little more openly,
we will describe unto you their hieroglyphic, wherein
they have very handsomely but obscurely discovered
most of their mysteries. First of all then, they draw a
circle, in the circle a serpent — not folded but diameter-
wise and at length. Her head resembles that of a hawk,
the tail is tied in a small knot, and a little below the head
her wings are volant. The circle points at Emepht , or
God the Father, being infinite — without beginning, with¬
out end. Moreover, it comprehends or contains in itself
the second Deity Ptha and the egg or chaos out of which
all things were made.2

The hawk in the Egyptian symbols signifies light and
spirit ; 3 his head annexed here to the serpent represents
Ptha> or the Second Person, who is the First Light — as
we have told you in our Anthroposophia. He is said to
form all things out of the egg, because in Him — as it
were, in a glass — are certain types or images, namely, the
distinct conceptions of the Paternal Deity, according to
which — by co-operation of the Spirit, namely, the Holy

1 The first volume of Kircher’s CEdipus Egyptiacus appeared in 1652,
though its dedication to the Emperor Ferdinand III is dated 1655 and the
Imperial Licence 1649. The last volume is dated 1654. It is a vast in¬
folio, three volumes in four. This being the bibliographical position, it
may be imprudent to say that Vaughan could not have consulted it in
1650 ; but my presumption — at its value— is that he refers in the text to
some other work of the Jesuit, who produced folios innumerable. I have
not consulted them to verify. No doubt Vaughan is right in saying that
Kircher is wrong, but he had no means of knowing. Of necessity at that
period they were all in the wrong about Egypt.

2 There are scraps only in Kircher on the symbolism of the Egyptian
egg, but such as they are most of them will be found in his third volume
of the text quoted previously. He is quite learned on the so-called ovum
Zoroastrceum , but seems deficient, even for his period, on things that con¬
cern the subject with which he professes to deal. He is of course not
worth quoting, except as a contemporary of Vaughan and one who has
ingarnered notions belonging to the period.

:J Life and light, according to Kircher.

I 80

Magi a Adamic a

Ghost — the creatures are formed. The inferior part of
this figure signifies the matter or chaos, which they call
the egg of Emepht. That you may better know it we
will teach you something not common. The body of
the serpent tells you it is a fiery substance, for a serpent
is full of heat and fire, which made the Egyptians esteem
him divine. This appears by his quick motion, without
feet or fins, much like that of the pulse, for his impetuous
hot spirit shoots him on like a squib. There is also
another analogy, for the serpent renews his youth — so
strong is his natural heat — and casts off his old skin.
Truly the Matter is a very serpent, for she renews herself
a thousand ways and is never a perpetual tenant to the
same form. The wings tell you this subject or chaos is
volatile, and in the outward complexion airy and watery.
But to teach you the most secret resemblance of this
hieroglyphic, the chaos is a certain creeping substance,
for it moves like a serpent sine pedibus , and truly Moses
calls it not water but serpitura aqute — the creeping of
water, or a water that creeps.1 Lastly, the knot on the
tail tells you this matter is of a most strong composition
and that the elements are fast bound in it, all which the
philosophers know to be true by experience.

As for the affinities of inferiors with superiors and their
private, active love — which consists in certain mixtures
of heaven with the matter — their opinion stands thus.
In the vital fire of all things here below the sun — say
they — is king. In their secret water the moon is queen.
In their pure air the five lesser planets rule and in their
central, hypostatical earth the fixed stars.2 For these
inferiors — according to their doctrine — are provinces or
thrones of those superiors where they sit regent and

1 I do not know how Vaughan comes by this intimation, which is
certainly not in the Hebrew text of Genesis, nor do the words serpitura
aquce occur in the Vulgate version.

2 The authority for all this is wanting, except that according to foolish
old occult physics the moon was cold and moist in temperament, while the
solar characteristics were great heat and dryness.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

paramount. To speak plainly, heaven itself was originally
extracted from inferiors, yet not so entirely but some
portion of the heavenly natures remained here below and
are the very same in essence and substance with the
separated stars and skies. Heaven here below differs
not from that above but in her capacity and that above
differs not from this below but in her liberty.1 The
one is imprisoned in the matter, the other is freed from
the grossness and impurities of it ; but they are both
of one and the same nature, so that they easily unite ;
and hence it is that the superior descends to the inferior,
to visit and comfort her in this sickly, infectious habita¬
tion. I could speak much more but I am in haste, and
though I were at leisure you cannot in reason expect I
should tell you all. I will therefore decline these general
principles to tell you something that makes for the
Egyptian practice and proves them philosophers adepted.
The first monument I read of to this purpose is that of
Synesius — a very learned, intelligent man. He found in
the Temple of Memphis 7reTpcoas f3i/3\ov$, abooks of stone,”
and in those hard leaves these difficult instructions :

H’ <fivcri<s Trjv cfrvcnv rep7T€t
H’ <f>V(TLS TYjV (frVCTLV VLKa
H’ cfiVCTLS TYjV <j>V(TLV KpaTiL.

That is : “ One nature delights in another ; one nature
overcomes another ; one nature over-rules another.”
These short lessons, but of no small consequence, are
fathered on the great Ostanes. The second monument
is that admirable and most magical one mentioned by
Barachias Abenesi, the Arabian.2 This also was a stone
erected near Memphis, and on it this profound scripture :

1 Compare the fixed and liberated Mercury of alchemical symbolism,
of which there is a strange spiritual understanding in some of the schools.
So also Vaughan’s remark in the text has its proper mystical aspect and
as such is concerned with the soul in bondage and the soul in freedom.

2 I have found no particulars concerning this author. The inscription
recalls that of the so-called Table of Hermes.

182

Magta Adamica

OYPANOS ANO, OYPANOS KATO,

ASTPA ANO, A2TPA KATO,

IIAN TO ANO, nAN TOYTO KATO,

TAYTA AABE, KAI EYTYXE.

That is :

Heaven above, heaven beneath,

Stars above, stars beneath,

All that is above is also beneath :

Understand this, and be happy.

Under this were figured certain apposite hieroglyphics,
and — for a close to all — this dedicatory subscription : 1

2YN0PONOIS T0I2 EN AIPYIITQ 0EOI2 ISIAS
APXIEPEY2 ANEHKE = “ Isias the High Priest
erected this to the resident gods in Egypt.”

And now though I formerly suspended the authority
of Trismegistus I might, like the Italian, produce his
weapons sfodrato ; but I love no velitations, and truth
is so brave it needs no feather. “ That which is above ”
— said Hermes — “ is even as that which is below, and
that which is below is even as that which is above.”2
This is his mystery, and ’tis great. The benefit which
attends the purpose is no less : “ All the pomp and
splendour of the world shall be thine.”3 To this
language the dialect of Isias doth so echo, these two —
like Euphorbus and Pythagoras — might pass for one :
“ Heaven above ” — said he — “ heaven below ; stars above,
stars below : whatsoever is above, that is also below.”
And then follows a reward for the intelligent : “ Under¬
stand this and thou art fortunate.”4 Thou hast made
thyself very happy.

This is enough to prove that magic sometime flourished
in Egypt, and no doubt but they received the truth of

1 Vaughan adds in brackets : “ I find it only in the Coptic character
but our founts wanting that letter, I must give it you in Greek.”

2 Quod est superius est sicut id quod est inferius , et quod est inferius
est sicut id quod est superius.

3 Habebis gloriam totius mundi.

4 Caelum sursum , coelum deorsum ; astra sursum, astro, deorsum ; omne
quod sursum , om?ie id deorsum : hcec cape et fcelicitare.

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it from the Hebrews, who lived amongst them to the
term of four hundred and thirty years. This is plain,
for their own native learning was mere sorcery and
witchcraft, and this appears by the testimony of Moses,
who tells us their magicians produced their miracles by
enchantments. And why, I beseech you, should this
instruction seem impossible ? For Joseph being married
to Asenath, daughter of Potipherah Priest of On, some
of the Egyptian priests — and those likely of his own
alliance — might, for that very relation, receive a better
doctrine from him. But this is not all I could say of
this nation and their secret learning, if I were disposed
to be their Mercury. There is not any, I believe, who
pretend to antiquity or philosophy but have seen that
famous monument which Paul III bestowed on his
Cardinal Petrus Bembus and was ever since called the
Bembine Table. No doubt but the Hieroglyphics therein
contained — were they all reduced into letters — would
make a volume as ample as mysterious.1 But ’tis not
my design to comment on Memphis : that were to make
brick and look 2 out the straw withal, Egypt having no
complete table but the world, over which her monuments
are scattered. This place then was the pitcher to the
fountain, for they received their mysteries immediately
from the Hebrews ; but their doctrine, like their Nilus,
swelling above its private channel, did at last overrun
the universe. Iamblichus the divine, in that excellent
discourse of his De Mysteriis , tells us that Pythagoras
and Plato had all their learning “ out of the pillars or
hieroglyphical monuments of Trismegistus.” 3 But the
ancient Orpheus, in his poem De Verbo Sacro — where he
speaks of God — hath these words : “ None saith he —

1 Meanwhile there is at least the admirable work of Laurentius
Pignorius : MenSa Isiaca, which appeared at Amsterdam in 1670, and
in addition to its exposition of the subject has most beautiful folding
plates reproducing the entire tablet.

2 This is possibly an erratum and may be read “leave

3 Ex columnis Mercurii.

184

Magia A da mica

“ hath ever seen God but a certain man descended from
the Chaldean race.” 1 Now this was Moses, of whom it
is written that he spake with God face to face, as one
man speaks with another. After this he gives us a short
character or description of the Deity, not in the recess
and abstract but in reference to the incubation of His
Spirit upon Nature. Lastly, he acquaints us with the
original of his doctrine — from whence it first came — and
verily he derives it from the well-head. “ The priests ”
— saith he — “or prophets of the ancient fathers taught
us all these things, which God delivered to them here¬
tofore in two tables.” 2 Thanks be to that God Who
made a heathen speak so plainly. I need not tell you to
whom these tables were delivered. Cavallero d’ Epistola
can inform you. I cited this place that it might appear
though the philosophy of Greece came generally out of
Egypt yet some Grecians have been disciplined by the
Jews, and this is proved by no contemptible testimonies.

Aristobulus, who lived in the days of the Maccabees and
was himself a Jew, writes to Ptolemy Philometor, King
of Egypt, and affirms that the Pentateuch or five books
of Moses were translated into Greek before the time of
Alexander the Great and that they came to the hands of
Pythagoras and Plato.3 Indeed Numenius the Pytha¬
gorean calls Plato cc Moses speaking in the Greek dialect,” 4 * 6
by which he minded not a similitude of style but a con¬
formity of principles. There is a story of Clearchus the
Peripatetic in his book 5 De Somno ,6 how true I know not

1 Nemo ilium , nisi Chaldceo de sanguine quiddam
Progenitus , vidit.

2 Priscorum nos hcec docuerunt omnia vales ,

Quce binis tabulis Deus olim tradidit illis.

3 Aristobulus was a Jewish philosopher, circa 150 B.e. The Ptolemy
mentioned by Vaughan died B.C. 145.

4 Mosen Attica lingua loquentem. Numenius was of Apamea in Syria

and was a writer of repute. He is mentioned by Origen.

6 The original reads “first,” which is obviously a misprint.

0 He is called a disciple of Aristotle, but the sole remaining fragment
of his work is found in Josephus contra Apion, Lib. i.

185

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

but the substance of it is this. He brings in his master
Aristotle, relating how he met with a very reverend and
learned Jew, with whom he had much discourse about
things natural and Divine ; but his special confession is
that he was much rectified by him in his opinion of the
Deity. This perhaps might be, but certainly it was after
he writ the Organon and his other lame discourses that
move by the logical crutch. Now, if you will ask me :
What Greek did ever profess any magical principles ?
To this I answer that if you bate Aristotle and his ushers,
who are born like the pismires ex putredine , out of their
master’s corruptions, Greece yielded not a philosopher
who was not in some positions magical. If any man will
challenge my demonstration herein I do now promise him
my performance. To give you some particular instances,
Hippocrates was altogether chemical, and this I could
prove out of his own mouth,1 but at this time his works
are not by me. Democritus, who lived in the same age
with him, writ his (pvcriKa kcu hvo-tikci — that is Physical
and Mystical Things, in plain English, Natural Secrets.2
To this mystical piece Synesius added the light of his
comments and dedicated them to Dioscorus, Priest of
Serapis.3 Of this Democritus Seneca reports in his
Epistles that he knew a secret coction of pebbles by which
he turned them into emeralds.4 Theophrastus, a most
ancient Greek author, in his book De Lapidibus , mentions
another mineral work of his own, wherein he had written
something of metals.5 True indeed that discourse of his
is lost, but notwithstanding his opinion is on record,
namely, that he referred the original of metals to water.
This is confirmed by his own words, as I find them cited

1 Hippocrates died B.C. 361, or in the same year as Democritus. The
designation of his writings as chemical is not worth debating.

2 See <!>T5IKA KAI MY2TIKA in the Byzantine Collection.

3 Ibid. The reference is to a letter by pseudo- Synesius on the work
of pseudo-Democritus.

4 He is said also to have made ivory malleable.

5 He has been accredited with two hundred treatises, of which twenty
are now extant.

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Magia Adamica

by Picus in his book De Auro : “ It is by the conversion
of water that silver and gold are produced. ” 1 But that
the art of transmutation was in request in his days and
no late invention or imposture, as some think, appears
by the attempts and practice of that age, out of the same
Theophrastus. For he mentions one Callias, an Athenian,
who endeavouring to make gold brought his materials
into cinnabar.

It were an endless labour for me to recite all the
particulars that Greece can afford in order to my present
design. I will therefore close up all in this short
summary. There is no wisdom in Nature but what
proceeded from God, for He made Nature. He first
found out2 and afterwards ordained the very ways and
method how to corrupt and how to generate. This His
own wisdom and knowledge He communicated in some
measure to the first man. From him his children received
it, and they taught it their posterity; but the Jews having
the spiritual birthright this mystery was their inheritance
and they possessed it entirely, being the anointed nation
upon whom God had poured forth His spirit. By tradi¬
tion of the Jews the Egyptians came to be instructed ; from
the Egyptians these secrets descended to the Grecians ; and
from the Grecians — as we all know — the Romans received
their learning and, amongst other common arts, this
magical, mysterious one. This is confirmed by some
proper, genuine effects and monuments thereof, namely,
that flexible malleable glass produced in the days of
Tiberius and the miraculous Olybian Lamp. But these
times wherein I am now and those through which I have
passed are like some tempestuous day : they have more

1 "TSaros p.\v ra paraWivipL^va, Karairep tipyvpos Kal xpvabs. The quotation
is given by Picus in Lib. iii, c. 4 of his treatise. It will be found, among
other places, in Mangetus : Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa, vol. ii,
p. 566.

2 A typical example of Vaughan’s crude and childish way of expres¬
sion in certain cases. Macaulay’s proverbial schoolboy could scarcely
do worse in describing the intellectual workings of a supposed all-
knowing God.

187

The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

clouds than light. I will therefore enter Christendom,
and here I shall find the Art in her infancy. True
indeed the cradle is but in some private hands, few know
where, and many believe there is no such thing. The
schoolmen are high in point of noise and condemn all
but what themselves profess. It is Aristotle’s Almodena :
they expose his errors to the sale, and this continues for
a long time. But everything — as the Spaniard saith —
hath its quando . Many years are passed over, and now
the child begins to lisp and peep abroad in the fustian of
Arnold and Lully. I need not tell you how he hath
thrived since. Do but look upon his train ; for at this
day who pretends not to magic, and that so magisterially,
as if the regalos of the Art were in his powers ? I know
not any refragrans except some sickly Galenists whose
pale, tallow faces speak more disease than physic. These
indeed complain their lives are too short, philosophy too
tedious, and so fill their mouths with Ars longa , vita
brevis . This is true — saith the Spanish Picaro — for they
cure either late or never, which makes their art long ;
but they kill quickly, which makes life short : and so the
riddle is expounded.

1 88

CCELUM TERRiE

OR THE MAGICIAN’S HEAVENLY CHAOS

CGELUM TERROR

I have now, Reader, performed my promise and —
according to my posse — proved the antiquity of magic.
I am not so much a fool as to expect a general subscrip¬
tion to my endeavours. Every man’s placet is not the
same with mine ; but “ the die is cast.” 1 I have done
this much, and he that will overthrow it must know, in
the first place, it is his task to do more. There is one
point I can justly bind an adversary to — that he shall
not oppose man to God, heathen romances to Divine
Scriptures. He that would foil me must use such
weapons as I do, for I have not fed my readers with
straw, neither will I be confuted with stubble. In the
next place, it is my design to speak something of the
Art itself, and this I shall do in rational terms, a form
different from the ancients ; for I will not stuff my
discourse like a wilderness with lions and dragons. To
common philosophers that fault is very proper which
Quintilian observed in some orators : “ The summits
of their structures are in evidence ; the foundations are
hidden.” 2 The spires of their Babel are in the clouds,
its fundamentals nowhere. They talk indeed of fine
things but tell us not upon what grounds. To avoid
these flights, 1 shall in this my olla — for I care not much
what I shall call it — observe this composition. First, I
shall speak of that one only thing which is the subject of
this Art and the mother of all things. Secondly, I will
discourse of that most admirable and more than natural
Medicine which is generated out of this one thing.

1 Jacta est alea. 2 Ofierum Jastigia spectantur , latent fundamenta.

l9l

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Lastly — though with some disorder — I will discover the
means how and by which this Art works upon the
subject ; but these being the keys which lead to the
very estrado of Nature, where she sits in full solemnity
and receives the visits of the philosophers, I must
scatter them in several parts of the discourse. This is
all, and here thou must not consider how long or short
I shall be but how full the discovery ; and truly it shall
be such and so much that thou canst not in modesty
expect more.

Now then, you that would be what the ancient
physicians were, “the health-giving hands of the gods,” 1
not quacks and salvos of the pipkin ; you that would
perform what you publicly profess and make your
callings honest and conscionable : attend to the truth
without spleen. Remember that prejudice is no religion
and by consequence hath no reward. If this Art were
damnable you might safely study it notwithstanding, for
you have a precept to “ prove all things ” but to “ hold
fast that which is good.” 2 It is your duty not to be
wanting to yourselves ; and for my part — that I may be
wanting to none — thus I begin.

Said the Kabalist : “ The building of the Sanctuary
which is here below is framed according to that of the
Sanctuary which is above.” 3 Here we have two worlds,
visible and invisible, and two universal Natures, visible
and invisible, out of which both those worlds proceeded.
The passive universal Nature was made in the image of
the active universal one, and the conformity of both
worlds or Sanctuaries consists in the original conformity
of their principles. There are many Platonics — and this
last century hath afforded them some apish disciples —
who discourse very boldly of the similitudes of inferiors
and superiors ; but if we thoroughly search their trash

1 Manus Deorum salutares. 2 I Thessalonians, v 21.

3 Domus Sanctuarii quce est hie inferius disfonitur secundum Domum
Sanctitarii quce est suferitis.

192

Ccelum Terrce

it is a pack of small conspiracies — namely, of the helio¬
trope and the sun, iron and the lodestone, the wound and
the weapon.1 It is excellent sport to hear how they crow,
being roosted on these pitiful particulars, as if they knew
the universal magnet which binds this great frame and
moves all the members of it to a mutual compassion.
This is an humour much like that of Don Quixote, who
knew Dulcinea but never saw her. Those students then
who would be better instructed must first know there
is an universal agent, Who when He was disposed to
create had no other pattern or exemplar whereby to frame
and mould His creatures but Himself. But having in¬
finite inward ideas or conceptions in Himself, as He
conceived so He created : that is to say, He created an
outward form answerable to the inward conception or
figure of His mind. In the second place, they ought to
know there is an universal patient, and this passive
Nature was created by the Universal Agent. This general
patient is the immediate catholic character of God Him¬
self in His unity and trinity. In plain terms it is that
substance which we commonly call the First Matter.
But verily it is to no purpose to know this notion [or] 2
Matter unless we know the thing itself to which the
notion relates. We must see it, handle it and by ex¬
perimental ocular demonstration know the very central
invisible essences and properties of it.3 But of these

1 A not unwarranted criticism of oid extravagances which came out of
the doctrine of correspondences. I do not know whether Vaughan alludes
to the flower called heliotrope or to the stone. The former is misnamed,
since it does not turn, following the sun. As to the latter, one story says
that it becomes the colour of blood, if exposed to the solar rays after being
thrown into water. The curious folly of the weapon-salve was much in
evidence during the seventeenth century in England. Rulandus illustrates
the affinity between iron and the lodestone by saying that the “veins”
which produce one very often produce the other.

2 A conjectural emendation of the text, which does not make sense as
it stands in the original.

3 The implied claim of this statement is illustrated elsewhere, when
Vaughan affirms that he has himself seen the First Matter. His reference
to “the immediate catholic character of God” — as exhibited by this' sub-

193 13

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

things hear the most excellent Capnion, who informs his
Jew and his Epicure of two catholic natures — material
and spiritual. “ One nature” — saith he — a is such it
may be seen with the eyes and felt with the hands, and
it is subject to alteration almost in every moment. You
must pardon — as Apuleius saith — this strange expression,
because it makes for the obscurity of the thing. This
very nature — since she may not continue one and the
same — is notwithstanding apprehended of the mind under
her such qualification more rightly as she is than as she
is not, namely, as the thing itself is in truth — that is to
say, changeable. The other nature or principle of sub¬
stances is incorruptible, immutable, constant, one and the
same for ever, and always existent.”1

Thus he. Now, this changeable nature whereof he
speaks is the first, visible, tangible substance that ever
God made : it is white in appearance and Paracelsus
gives you the reason why: “All things” — saith he —
“ when they first proceed from God are white, but He
colours them afterwards according to His pleasure.” 2 An
example we have in this very matter, which the philosophers
call sometimes their Red Magnesia, sometimes their White,
by which descriptions they have deceived many men.3 For
in the first preparation the chaos is blood-red, because the
Central Sulphur is stirred up and discovered by the Philo¬
sophical Fire. In the second it is exceeding white and
transparent like the heavens. It is in truth somewhat

stance or expressed therein — is a little obscure in its wording, but it means
nothing more than the close of his sentence shows — namely, that the First
Matter is one as regards its essence but three in its manifestation.

1 Alteram quce viaeri oculis et attingi manu possit prope ad omne
momentum alterabilem. Detur enim venia , ut ait Madaurensis , novitati
\ verborum , rerum obscuritatibus inse? vienti. Hcec ipsa cum eadem et una
persistere nequent , nihilominus a tali virtute animi hospitio suscipitur ,
pro modo rectius quo est quam quo non est , qualis in veritate res est ,
id est, mutabilis. Alteram autem substantiarum naturam incorruptam ,
immutabilem , constantem , eandunque ac semper existentem.

2 Omnia in manu Dei alba sunt , is ea tingit ut vult.

3 See the Testamentum Magistri Raymundi Lullii, Part I, De
Theorica , cap. 30, concerning “the power of our Magnesia.”

194

Coelum Terrce

like common quicksilver, but of a celestial, transcendent
brightness, for there is nothing upon earth like it. This
fine substance is the child of the elements and it is a most
pure sweet virgin, for nothing as yet hath been generated
out of her. But if at any time she breeds it is by the fire
of Nature, for that is her husband. She is no animal,
no vegetable, no mineral, neither is she extracted out of
animals, vegetables or minerals, but she is pre-existent to
them all, for she is the mother of them. Yet one thing
I must say : she is not much short of life, for she is
almost animal. Her composition is miraculous and
different from all other compounds whatsoever. Gold is
not so compact but every sophister concludes it is no
simple ; but she is so much one that no man believes she
is more. She yields to nothing but love, for her end is
generation and that was never yet performed by violence.
He that knows how to wanton and toy with her, the same
shall receive all her treasures. First, she sheds at her
nipples a thick heavy water, but white as any snow : the
philosophers call it Virgin’s Milk.1 Secondly, she gives
him blood from her very heart : it is a quick, heavenly
fire ; some improperly call it their sulphur. Thirdly and
lastly, she presents him with a secret crystal, of more
worth and lustre than the white rock and all her rosials.
This is she, and these are her favours : catch her, if
you can.

To this character and discovery of my own I shall add
some more descriptions, as I find her limned and dressed
by her other lovers. Some few — but such as knew her
very well — have written that she is not only one and
three but withal four and five ; and this truth is essential.
The titles they have bestowed on her are divers. They
call her their Catholic Magnesia2 and the Sperm of the

1 Lac Virginis , otherwise Virginal Milk and sometimes milk simply,
symbolises the Mercurial Water of Alchemists. According to Denis
Zachaire, it is Sophie Mercury coagulated by a certain fixed body.

2 The term Magnesia is frequently used to designate the First Matter
of the Philosopher’s Stone ; otherwise, it is that substance during the

J9 5

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

World out of which all natural things are generated.
Her birth — say they — is singular and not without a
miracle, her complexion heavenly and different from her
parents. Her body also in some sense is incorruptible
and the common elements cannot destroy it, neither will
she mix with them essentially. In the outward shape
or figure she resembles a stone and yet is no stone, for
they call her their White Gum 1 and Water of the Sea,2
Water of Life,3 Most Pure and Blessed Water ; 4 and yet
they mind not water of the clouds or rain water, nor water
of the well, nor dew, but a certain thick, permanent, saltish
water, that is dry and wets not the hands,5 a viscous, slimy
water generated out of the fatness of the earth. They call
her also their twofold Mercury and Azoth,6 begotten by the
influences of two globes, celestial and terrestrial. More¬
over, they affirm her to be of that nature that no fire can
destroy her, which of all other descriptions is most true, for
she is fire herself, having in her a portion of the universal
fire of Nature and a secret celestial spirit, which spirit is
animated and quickened by God Himself, wherefore also
they call her their Most Blessed Stone. Lastly, they say
she is a middle nature between thick and thin, neither alto¬
gether earthy nor altogether fiery but a mean aerial sub¬
stance-— to be found everywhere and every time of the year.

process of putrefaction. It may also typify prepared Mercury, which
is fundamentally the same thing. White Magnesia is White Sophie
Sulphur or Gold, and Red Magnesia is Red Sulphur or Gold, the Sun
of Alchemy.

1 The alternatives in this case are similar to those of Magnesia. Mercury
in putrefaction is Gum ; White Gum is Sulphur in the white state ; Red
Gum is Sophie Sulphur in the red state.

2 Described otherwise as Philosophical Mercury, extracted from the
Red Sea of the Wise.

3 Called also Quintessence of Philosophers.

4 i.e ., Mercurial Quintessence. Aqua benedicta is used by pseudo-
Albertus Magnus. See pp. 205-207 on Permanent Water.

6 Another name is Philosophical Water.

6 I believe that Basil Valentine was the first to make use of this word,
which is composed of the first and final letters of the Latin, Greek and
Hebrew alphabets. It was adopted in particular by Planiscampus and
Paracelsus to denote the Universal Medicine, presumably in that state
when it was administered to man, rather than to metals.

196

Coelutn Terrce

This is enough. But that I may speak something
myself in plain terms, I say she is a very salt, but
extreme soft and somewhat thin and fluid, not so hard,
not so thick as common extracted salts, for she is none
of them, nor any kind of salt whatsoever that man can
make. She is a sperm that Nature herself draws out
of the elements without the help of art. Man may find
it where Nature leaves it ; it is not of his office to make
the sperm, nor to extract it. It is already made and
wants nothing but a matrix and heat convenient for
generation. Now should you consider with yourselves
where Nature leaves the seed, and yet many are so dull
they know not how to work when they are told what
they must do. We see in animal generations the sperm
parts not from both the parents, for it remains with the
female, where it is perfected. In the great world, though
all the elements contribute to the composure of the
sperm yet the sperm parts not from all the elements
but remains with the earth or with the water, though
more immediately with the one than with the other. Let
not your thoughts feed now on the phlegmatic, indigested
vomits of Aristotle : look on the green, youthful and
flowery bosom of the earth.1 Consider what a vast
universal receptacle this element is. The stars and
planets overlook her and — though they may not descend
hither themselves — they shed down their golden locks,
like so many bracelets and tokens of love. The sun is
perpetually busy, brings his fire round about her, as if he
would sublime something from her bosom and rob her of
some secret, enclosed jewel.- Is there anything lost since
the creation ? Wouldst thou know his very bed and his
pillow ? It is earth. How many cities, dost thou think,
have perished with the sword ? How many by earth-

1 One of the spiritual correspondences of his subject may have been
in the mind of Vaughan, that Word of God which is compared to a seed
by St Luke, viii, 5, 11, and is sown in the earth of our humanity — that
is to say, in the heart. Of eternal generation, it is neither made nor
extracted and needs only the matrix, which is carried within by us all.

197

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

quakes ? And how many by the deluge ? Thou dost
perhaps desire to know where they are at this present :
believe it, they have one common sepulchre. What was
once their mother is now their tomb. All things return
to that place from whence they came, and that very place
is earth. If thou hast but leisure, run over the alphabet
of Nature ; examine every letter — I mean, every particular
creature — in her book. What becomes of her grass, her
corn, her herbs, her flowers ? True it is, both man and
beast do use them, but this only by the way, for they
rest not till they come to earth again. In this element
they had their first and in this will they have their last
station. Think — if other vanities will give thee leave —
on all those generations that went before thee and
anticipate all those that shall come after thee. Where
are those beauties the times past have produced and
what will become of those that shall appear in future
ages P They will all to the same dust ; they have one
common house ; and there is no family so numerous as
that of the grave. Do but look on the daily sports of
Nature, her clouds and mists, the scene and pageantry
of the air. Even these momentary things retreat to the
closet of the earth. If the sun makes her dry she can
drink as fast ; what gets up in clouds comes down in
water ; the earth swallows up all and like that philo¬
sophical dragon eats her own tail.1 The wise poets
saw this and in their mystical language called the earth
Saturn, telling us withal she did feed on her own children.
Verily, there is more truth in their stately verse than in
Aristotle’s dull prose, for he was a blind beast and malice
made him so.

But to proceed a little further with you, I wish you
to concoct what you read, to dwell a little upon earth,
not to fly up presently and admire the meteors of your

1 The familiar symbol recurs also in alchemy. The Dragon devouring
its tail is the Matter of the Stone when it circulates in the philosophical
vessel.

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own brains. The earth, you know, in the winter-time
is a dull, dark, dead thing — a contemptible, frozen,
phlegmatic lump. But towards the spring and fomenta¬
tions of the sun what rare pearls are there in this dung¬
hill, what glorious colours and tinctures doth she
discover. A pure, eternal green overspreads her, and
this attended with innumerable other beauties — roses red
and white, golden lilies, azure violets, the bleeding
hyacinths, with their several celestial odours and spices.
If you will be advised by me, learn from whence the
earth hath these invisible treasures, this annual flora,
which appears not without the compliments of the sun.
Behold, I will tell you as plainly as I may. There are
in the world two extremes — matter and spirit. One of
these, I can assure you, is earth. The influences of the
spirit animate and quicken the matter and in the material
extreme the seed of the spirit is to be found. In middle
natures — as fire, air and water — this seed stays not, for
they are but dispenseros or media which convey it from
one extreme to the other, from the spirit to the matter —
that is, the earth. But stay, my friend ; this intelligence
hath somewhat stirred you and now you come on so
furiously, as if you would rifle the cabinet. Give me
leave to put you back. I mind not this common,
feculent, impure earth : that falls not within my dis¬
course but as it makes for your manuduction. That
which I speak of is a mystery : it is ccelum terra and terra
cceli , not this dirt and dust but a most secret, celestial,
invisible earth.1

Raymund Lully in his Compendium of Alchemy calls
the principles of art magic “ certain fugitive spirits con¬
densed in the air, in the shape of divers monsters, beasts
and men, which move like clouds hither and thither.” 2

1 Much as the body of man is described in another symbolism as the
Terrestrial Paradise, and it is said that a curse fell thereon because of
the keeper.

2 Spiritus fugitivos in aere condensatos , in forma monstrosum diver-
sorum et animalium , etiam hoininum , qui vadunt sicut nubes , modo hue,

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As for the sense of our Spaniard, I refer it to his readers :
let them make the most of it.

This is true : as the air and all the volatile substances
in it are restless, even so is it with the First Matter.
The eye of man never saw her twice under one and the
same shape ; but as clouds driven by the wind are forced
to this and that figure — but cannot possibly retain one
constant form — so is she persecuted by the fire of Nature.
For this fire and this water are like two lovers : they no
sooner meet but presently they play and toy, and this
game will not over till some new baby is generated. I
have oftentimes admired their subtle perpetual motion,
for at all times and in all places these two are busy,
which occasioned that notable sentence of Trismegistus —
that action was the life of God.1 But most excellent and
magisterial is that oracle of Marcus Antoninus, who in
his discourse to himself speaks indeed things worthy of
himself. “ The nature ” — saith he — u of the universe
delights not in anything so much as to alter all things
and then to make the like again.” 2 This is her tick-
tack : she plays one game, to begin another. The
Matter is placed before her like a piece of wax, and she
shapes it to all forms and figures. Now she makes a
bird, now a beast, now a flower, then a frog, and she is
pleased with her own magical performances as men are
with their own fancies. Hence she is called of Orpheus
“ the mother that makes many things and ordains strange
shapes or figures.” 3 Neither doth she as some sinful
parents do, who — having their pleasure — care not for their
child. She loves them still after she hath made them,

modo illuc. — Compendium Artis Alchymise et Naturalis Philo¬
sophise, c. i.

1 The reference is possibly to Divine Pymander, c. xi, 17, which
affirms (1) that as man is only in virtue of the life in man, so is God only
in that He brings good to pass ; and (2) that the good is life and motion
in God, causing all things to move and live.

2 ’OuSev Suras <f>iAo 7 kcu t u>v '6\u>v (pvcis <£>s ravra /nera^aWuy, kou iroitlv vea
6/j.ota.

3 n o\vprixaV05 fjL^TVP and ’A WorpLOjxopfpoViairos.

200

Ccelum Terrce

hath an eye over them all and provides even for her
sparrows. ’Tis strange to consider that she works as
well privately as publicly, not only in gardens where
ladies may smell her perfumes but in remote solitudes
and deserts. The truth is she seeks not to please others
so much as herself, wherefore many of her works — and
those the choicest — never come to light.

We see little children, who are newly come from under
her hand, will be dabbling in dirt and water, and other
idle sports affected by none but themselves. The reason
is they are not as yet captivated, which makes them seek
their own pleasures. But when they come to age then
love or profit makes them square their actions according
to other men’s desires. Some cockney claps his revenue
on his back, but his gallantry is spoiled if his mistress
doth not observe it. Another fights, but his victory is
lost if it be not printed : it is the world must hear of
his valour. Now, Nature is a free spirit that seeks no
applause ; she observes none more than herself but is
pleased with her own magic, as philosophers are with
their secret philosophy. Hence it is that we find her busy,
not only in the pots of the balconies but in wildernesses
and ruinous places, where no eyes observe her but the stars
and planets. In a word, wheresoever the fire of Nature
finds the Virgin Mercury there hath he found his love,
and there will they both fall to their husbandry, a pleasure
not subject to surfeits, for it still presents new varieties.

It is reported of Mark Antony, a famous but un¬
fortunate Roman, how he sent his agent over the world
to copy all the handsome faces, that amongst so many
excellent features he might select for himself the most
pleasing piece.1 Truly Nature is much of this strain, for
she hath infinite beauteous patterns in herself, and all
these she would gladly see beyond herself, which she

1 This is not a very happy illustration for Vaughan’s purpose, for the
hypothetical point is that the patterns are within Nature, whereas
Antonius Marcus sent over the world to find them.

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The W orks of Thomas Vaughan

cannot do without the Matter — for that is her glass.
This makes her generate perpetually and imprint her
conceptions in the Matter, communicating life to it and
figuring it according to her imagination. By this practice
she placeth her fancy or idea beyond herself, or as the
Peripatetics say beyond the Divine Mind,1 namely, in the
Matter. But the ideas being innumerable and withal
different, the pleasures of the agent are maintained by
their variety or — to speak more properly — by his own
fruitfulness, for amongst all the beauties the world affords
there are not two that are altogether the same.

Much might be spoken in this place concerning
beauty, what it is, from whence it came and how it may
be defaced, not only in the outward figure but in the
inward idea and lost for ever in both worlds. But these
pretty shuttles I am no way acquainted with : I have no
mistress but Nature, wherefore I shall leave the fine ladies
to fine lads and speak of my simple

/Elia Delia

It was scarce day when all alone
I saw Hyanthe and her throne.

In fresh green damask she was dress’d
And o’er a sapphire globe did rest.

This slippery sphere when I did see,

Fortune, I thought it had been thee.

But when I saw she did present
A majesty more permanent
I thought my cares not lost if I
Should finish my discovery.

Sleepy she look’d to my first sight2
As if she had watch’d all the night,

And underneath her hand was spread, >

The white supporter of her head.

But at my second, studied view
I could perceive a silent dew

1 Extra intellectwn.

2 Compare the description of Thalia in Lumen de Lumine.

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Coelum Terrce

Steal down her cheeks, lest it should stain
Those cheeks where only smiles should reign.

The tears stream’d down for haste and all
In chains of liquid pearl did fall.

Fair sorrows — and more dear than joys
Which are but empty airs and noise —

Your drops present a richer prize,

For they are something like her eyes.

Pretty white fool, why hast thou been
Sullied with tears and not with sin ?

’Tis true thy tears, like polish’d skies,

Are the bright rosials of thy eyes ;

But such strange fates do them attend
As if thy woes would never end.

From drops to sighs they turn and then
Those sighs return to drops again ;

But whiles the silver torrent seeks
Those flowers that watch it in thy cheeks
The white and red Hyanthe wears
T urn to rose-water all her tears.

Have you beheld a flame that springs
From incense when sweet curled rings
Of smoke attend her last weak fires
And she all in perfumes expires ?

So did Hyanthe. Here — said she —

Let not this vial part from thee.

It holds my heart, though now ’tis spill’d
And into waters all distill’d.

’Tis constant still. Trust not false smiles :

Who smiles and weeps not, she beguiles.

Nay, trust not tears : false are the few;

Those tears are many that are true.

Trust me and take the better choice :

Who hath my tears can want no joys.

I know some sophisters of the heptarchy 1 — I mean
those whose learning is all noise, in which sense even

1 A satirical allusion to the Seven Wise Men of Gotham, as compared
with the Seven Wise Masters.

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pyannets and paraquitoes are philosophical — will conclude
this all bait and poetry ; that we are pleasing, not posi¬
tive, and cheat even the reader’s discretion. To prevent
such impotent calumnies and to spend a little more of
our secret light upon the well-disposed student, I shall
in this place produce the testimonies of some able philo¬
sophers concerning the First Matter itself, as it is naturally
found before any alteration by art. And here verily the
reader may discover the mark. It is most easily done, if
he will but eye the flights of my verse or follow the more
grave pace of their prose. The first I shall cite is Arnoldus
de VilM Nova,1 an absolute perfect master of the Art.
He describes the Philosophical Chaos in these plain terms.
“ It is ” — saith he — “a stone and no stone, spirit, soul
and body ; which if thou dissolvest, it will be dissolved ;
and if thou dost coagulate it, it will be coagulated ; and
if thou dost make it fly, it will fly : for it is volatile or
flying and clear as a tear. Afterwards it is made citrine,
then saltish ; but without shoots or crystals, and no man
may touch it with his tongue. Behold, I have described
it truly to, thee, but I have not named it. Now I will
name it ; and I say that if thou sayest it is water thou
dost say the truth ; and if thou sayest it is not water thou
dost lie. Be not therefore deceived with manifold de¬
scriptions and operations, for it is but one thing, to which
nothing extraneous may be added.” 2

Thus Arnoldus, and he borrowed this from the Turba.

1 The panegyric is of general recognition, but the name of Raymund
Lully should be bracketed with Arnold as the great adepts of their period.
Sendivogius and Eirenseus Philalethe are the great masters of the seven¬
teenth century.

2 Lafiis est et. non lapis , spiritus , anima et corpus ; quem si dissolvis ,
dissolvitur ; et si co agates, coagulatur ; et si volar e facis, volat. Est
enim volatilis , albas at lachryma oculi . Postea efficitur citrinus , salsus ,
pilis carens ; quem nemo sad lingua tangere potest. Ecce ipsum jam sud
demonstravi descriptione , non tamen nominavi. . . . Modo volo ipsum
nominare , et dico quod si dixeris earn aquam esse, verum dicis ; et si
dixeris earn aquam non esse, mentiris. Ne igitur decipiaris plu? ibus
descriptionibus et operationibus ; unum enim quid est, cui nihil alieni
infertur. — Speculum Alchimle, s.v. Octava Dispositio Speculi.

2C4

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Let us now hear his disciple Raymund Lully,1 who speak¬
ing very enviously and obscurely of seven metallic principles
describes the third — wherein four of the seven are in¬
cluded — in these words. Saith he : “ The third principle
is a clear, compounded water, and it is the next substance
in complexion to quicksilver. It is found running and
flowing upon the earth. This quicksilver is generated
in every compound out of the substance of the air, and
therefore the moisture of it is extreme heavy.”2 To these
I will add Albertus Magnus,3 whose suffrage in this kind of
learning is like the stylanx to gold ; for he had thoroughly
searched it and knew very well what part of it would
abide the test. In plain English saith he : “ The Mercury
of the wise men is a watery element, cold and moist.
This is their Permanent Water, the spirit of the body,
the unctuous vapour, the blessed water, the virtuous
water, the water of the wise men, the philosopher’s
vinegar, the mineral water, the dew of heavenly grace,
the virgin’s milk, the bodily Mercury ; and with other
numberless names is it named in the books of the philo¬
sophers ; which names truly- — though they are divers not¬
withstanding — always signify one and the same thing,
namely, the Mercury of the wise men. Out of this
Mercury alone all the virtue of the Art is extracted and —
according to its nature — the Tincture, both red and white.”4

1 The title of envious was given to those who darkened the counsels of
alchemy by excessive obscurity. The term is used frequently in the debate
of the Turba Philosophorum, in which the interlocutors do not spare
one another. In what sense any of them can lay claim to clearness is
perhaps another question, but the charge of envy obtained when adept
could not understand adept.

2 Tertium est aqua clara composita , et ilia est res argento vivo magis
propinqua , quce quide?n reperitur supra terrain currens et jluens. Et
istud argentum vivum in omni corpore elementato a materia aeris est
proprie generation, et ideo ipsius humiditas est valde ponderosa.

3 It should be mentioned that the Libellus de Alchymia and similar
tracts attributed to Albertus Magnus are not his work, nor is there any
truth in the story that he transmitted the great secret to St Thomas
Aquinas.

4 Mercurius Sapient-uni est elementum aqueum frigidum et humidum ,
aqua permanens , spiritus corporis , vapor unctuosus , aqua bene dicta ,

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To this agrees Rachaidibi the Persian.1 “ The sperm
or First Matter ” — saith he — “ of the stone is outwardly
cold and moist but inwardly hot and dry.” 2 All which
is confirmed by Rhodian,3 another instructor, it seems,
of Kanid King of Persia. His words are these : “ The
sperm is white and liquid, afterwards red. This sperm
is the Flying Stone, and it is aerial and volatile, cold and
moist, hot and dry.” 4 To these subscribes the author
of that excellent tract entitled The Book of the Three
Words. “This” — saith he — “ is the Book of Three
Words, meaning thereby Three Principles ; the Book of
the Precious Stone, which is a body aerial and volatile,
cold and moist, watery and adustive ; and in it is heat
and drought, coldness and moisture, one virtue inwardly,
the other outwardly.”6

Belus the philosopher, in that famous and most classic
Synod of Arisleus,6 inverts the order to conceal the practice ;
but if rightly understood he speaks to the same purpose.

aqua virtuosa, aqua sapientum , acetom philosophorum , aqua mineralis ,
ros calestis gratia, lac virginis , niercurius corp oralis, et aliis infinitis ,
nominibus in philosophorum libris nominator, quce quidem nomina ,
quamvis varia sunt , semper tamen unam et eandem rem significant,
utpote solum Mercurium Sapientum. Ex ipso solo elicitor omnis virtus
artis alchemia et suo modo tinctura alba et rubea.

1 Rachaidibus : De Materia Lapidis is contained in Artis Aurifer^e
quam Chemiam vocant volumina duo, Tom. i, Tract . xix.

2 Sperma lapidis est frigidum et humidum in manifesto, et in occulto
calidum et siccum.

3 Rachaidibus was also the King’s teacher. The more usual form of
the King’s name is Kalid or Calid. He became an adept himself and
wrote the Book OF the Three Words which Vaughan quotes imme¬
diately. The words are Air, Water, Fire — “in which the whole Art
consists.”

4 Sperma est album et liquidum , postea ritbeum. Sperma istud est
lapis fugitivus, et est aereum et volatile, et est frigidum et humidum, et
calidum et siccum.

5 Hie est Liber Trium Verborum , Liber Lapidis Preciosi, qui est
corpus aereum et volatile, frigidum et humidum, aquosum et adustivum,
et in eo est caliditas et siccitas, frigiditas et humiditas, alia virtus in
occulto, alia in manifesto. It will be seen that Vaughan is in a certain
confusion over the question of alleged authorship.

6 The reference is to Turba Philosophorum, which begins with a
salutation addressed on the part of Arisleus to those who shall follow in
the path.

20 6

Coslutn Term

“Amongst all great philosophers” — saith he — “it is
magisterial that our Stone is no stone : but amongst
ignorants it is ridiculous and incredible. For who will
believe that water can be made a stone and a stone water,
nothing being more different than these two ? And yet
in very truth it is so. For this very Permanent Water
is the Stone ; but whiles it is water it is no stone.” 1 But
in this sense the ancient Hermes abounds and almost dis¬
covers too much. “ Know saith he — “ you that are
children of the wise : the separation of the ancient philo¬
sophers was performed upon water, which separation
divides the water into four other substances.” 2 There
is extant a very learned author who hath written some¬
thing to this purpose, and that more openly than any
whom we have formerly cited. “ As the world ” — saith
he — “was generated out of that Water upon which the
Spirit of God did move, all things proceeding thence, both
celestial and terrestrial, so this chaos is generated out of a
certain Water that is not common, not out of dew nor air
condensed in the caverns of the earth, or artificially in the
receiver ; not out of water drawn out of the sea, fountains,
pits or rivers ; but out of a certain tortured water that
hath suffered some alteration. Obvious it is to all but
known to very few. This water hath all in it that is neces¬
sary to the perfection of the work, without any extrin¬
sical addition.” 3 I could produce a thousand authors
more, but that were tedious. I shall conclude with one

1 Excelsum est hoc apud philo sophos magnos lapidem non esse lapidem ,
apud idiotas vile et incredibile. Quis enim credet lapidem aquam et aquam
lapidem fieri , cum nihil sit diver sius 1 A ttamen rev era ita est. Lapis
enim est hcec ipsa perinanens aqua , et dum aqua est lapis non est.

2 Scitote , Filii Sapient-urn , quod priscorum philosophorum aquce est
divisio , quce dividat ipsam in alia quatuor.

3 Sicuti mundus originem debet aquce , cui Spiritus Domini incubabat ,
rebus tarn coelestibus quam terrestribus omnibus inde prodeuntibus , ita
limbus hie emergit ex aqua non vulgari , neque ex tore coelesti aut ex aere
condensato in cavernis terree , vel in recipiente ipso , non ex abysso marts,
fontibus , puteis , fluminibusve hausto , sed ex aqua quadam perpessd ,
omnibus obvia, paucissimis cognita. Quce in se habet qucecunque ad
totius operis co?nple?nentum sunt necessaria , omni amoto extri?iseco.

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of the Rosy Brothers, whose testimony is equivalent to
the best of these but his instruction far more excellent.
His discourse of the First Matter is somewhat large, and
to avoid prolixity I shall forbear the Latin, but 1 will give
thee his sense in punctual, plain English.

“ I am a goddess ” — saith he, speaking in the person of
Nature — <c for beauty and extraction famous, born out of
our own proper sea which compasseth the whole earth and
is ever restless. Out of my breasts I pour forth milk and
blood : boil these two till they are turned into silver and
gold. O most excellent subject, out of which all things
in this world are generated, though at the first sight thou
art poison, adorned with the name of the Flying Eagle.1
Thou art the First Matter, the seed of Divine Benedic¬
tion, in whose body there is heat and rain, which not¬
withstanding are hidden from the wicked, because of thy
habit and virgin vestures which are scattered over all the
world. Thy parents are the sun and moon ; in thee
there is water and wine, gold also and silver upon earth,
that mortal man may rejoice. After this manner God
sends us His blessing and wisdom with rain and the
beams of the sun, to the eternal glory of His Name. But
consider, O man, what things God bestows upon thee by
this means. Torture the Eagle till she weeps and the
Lion be weakened and bleed to death. The blood of this
Lion, incorporated with the tears of the Eagle, is the
treasure of the earth. These creatures use to devour and
kill one another,2 but notwithstanding their love is mutual,
and they put on the property and nature of a Salamander,
which if it remains in the fire without any detriment it
cures all the diseases of men, beasts and metals. After
that the ancient philosophers had perfectly understood

1 The Flying Eagle is usually explained in the lexicons to be Philo¬
sophical Mercury, which itself is sometimes a name of the First Matter,
or — as we have seen — of one of the principles evolved therefrom.

2 There are various lions in alchemy, qualified as green, red, flying and
so forth ; but the generic name is sometimes applied to the male substance
which enters into the composition of the Magistery.

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this subject they diligently sought in this mystery for the
centre of the middlemost tree in the Terrestrial Paradise,
entering in by five litigious gates. The first gate was the
knowledge of the True Matter, and here arose the first
and that a most bitter conflict. The second was the pre¬
paration by which this Matter was to be prepared, that
they might obtain the embers of the Eagle and the blood
of the Lion. At this gate there is a most sharp fight, for
it produceth water and blood and a spiritual, bright body.
The third gate is the fire which conduceth to the maturity
of the Medicine. The fourth gate is that of multiplica¬
tion and augmentation, in which proportions and weight
are necessary. The fifth and last gate is projection.
But most glorious, full rich and high is he who attains
to the fourth gate, for he hath got an universal Medicine
for all diseases. This is that great character of the Book
of Nature out of which her whole alphabet doth arise.
The fifth gate serves only for metals. This mystery,
existing from the foundation of the world and the creation
of Adam, is of all others the most ancient, a knowledge
which God Almighty — by His Word — breathed into
Nature, a miraculous power, the blessed fire of life, the
transparent carbuncle and red gold of the wise men, and
the Divine Benediction of this life. But this mystery,
because of the malice and wickedness of men, is given
only to few, notwithstanding it lives and moves every
day in the sight of the whole world, as it appears by the
following parable.

“ I am a poisonous dragon, present everywhere and to
be had for nothing. My water and my fire dissolve and
compound. Out of my body thou shalt draw the Green
and the Red Lion ; but if thou dost not exactly know me
thou wilt — with my fire — destroy thy five senses. A most
pernicious, quick poison comes out of my nostrils which
hath been the destruction of many. Separate therefore
the thick from the thin artificially, unless thou dost delight
in extreme poverty. I give thee faculties both male and

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female and the powers both of heaven and earth. The
mysteries of my art are to be performed magnanimously
and with great courage, if thou wouldst have me over¬
come the violence of the fire, in which attempt many have
lost both their labour and their substance. I am the egg
of Nature known only to the wise, such as are pious and
modest, who make of me a little world. Ordained I was
by the Almighty God for men, but — though many desire
me — I am given only to few, that they may relieve the
poor with my treasures and not set their minds on gold
that perisheth. I am called of the philosophers Mercury :
my husband is gold philosophical.1 I am the old dragon
that is present everywhere on the face of the earth. I am
father and mother, youthful and ancient, weak and yet
most strong, life and death, visible and invisible, hard and
soft, descending to the earth and ascending to the heavens,
most high and most low, light and heavy. In me the
order of Nature is oftentimes inverted — in colour, num¬
ber, weight and measure. I have in me the light of
Nature ; I am dark and bright ; I spring from the earth
and I come out of heaven ; I am well known and yet a
mere nothing ; all colours shine in me and all metals by
the beams of the sun. I am the Carbuncle of the Sun,2
a most noble, clarified earth, by which thou mayst turn
copper, iron, tin and lead into most pure gold.”

Now, gentlemen, you may see which way the philo¬
sophers move : they commend their Secret Water and I
admire the tears of Hyanthe. There is something in the
fancy besides poetry, for my mistress is very philosophical
and in her love a pure platonic. But now I think upon

1 As distinguished, that is to say, from aurum mortuum , the dead gold
of commerce. The latter is especially that metal which has suffered the
process of melting; but it has to be understood that no product of the mines
ranks as that of Hermetic philosophy. Philosophical gold ex hypothesi
was either the work of art in the grade of adeptship or was that mystery
of attainment which lay behind the veils of symbolism in spiritual
alchemy.

2 I am not acquainted with any earlier use of this figurative expression,
and I cannot identify the author of the long extract.

2 10

Coelum Terrce

it, how many rivals shall I procure by this discourse ?
Every reader will fall to and some fine thing may break her
heart with nonsense. This love indeed were mere luck ;
but for my part I dare trust her, and lest any man should
mistake her for some things formerly named I will tell
you truly what she is. She is not any known water what¬
soever but a secret spermatic moisture, or rather the
Venus that yields that moisture. Therefore do not you
imagine that she is any crude, phlegmatic, thin water,
for1 she is a fat, thick, heavy, slimy humidity. But
lest you should think I am grown jealous and would
not trust you with my mistress, Arnoldus de Villi Nova
shall speak for me : hear him. “I tell thee further”—
saith he — “ that we could not possibly find, neither could
the philosophers find before us, anything that would per¬
sist in the fire but only the unctuous humidity. A
watery humidity, we see, will easily vapour away and the
earth remains behind, and the parts are therefore separated
because their composition is not natural. But if we con¬
sider those humidities which are hardly separated from
those parts which are natural to them, we find not any
such but the unctuous, viscous humidities.” 2

It will be expected perhaps by some flint and antimony
doctors — who make their philosophical contrition with a
hammer — that I should discover this thing outright and
not suffer this strange bird-lime to hold their pride by the
plumes. To these I say it is Water of Silver, which some
have called Water of the Moon ; but ’tis Mercury of the
Sun, and partly of Saturn, for it is extracted from these
three metals and without them it can never be made.3

1 The original reads “or.”

2 Amplius tibi dico quod nullo modo invenire potuimus, nec similiter
invenire potuerunt philosophic aliquant rent perseverantem in igne , nisi
so lam unctuosam humiditatem. Aqiteam humiditatetn videtnus de facili
evaporare , arida remanet , et ideo separantur , quia non sunt naturales.
Si autem eas humiditates consideremus , quce. difficulter separantur ab his
quce sujit naturales , non invenimus aliquas ?iisi imctuosas et viscosas.

3 It seems obvious that Vaughan is befooling his “flint and antimony
doctors,” for he poses here as affirming that the matter of the mastery is

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Now they may unriddle and tell me what it is, for it is
truth — if they can understand it.

To the ingenuous and modest reader I have something
else to reply, and I believe it will sufficiently excuse me.
Raymund Lully — a man who had been in the centre of
Nature and without all question understood a great part
of the Divine Will — gives me a most terrible charge not
to prostitute these principles. Saith he : “ I swear to
thee upon my soul that thou art damned if thou shouldst
reveal these things. For every good thing proceeds from
God and to Him only is due. Wherefore thou shalt
reserve and keep that secret which God only should reveal,
and thou shalt affirm thou dost justly keep back those
things whose revelation belongs to His honour. For if
thou shouldst reveal that in a few words which God hath
been forming a long time, thou shouldst be condemned
in the great day of judgment as a traitor to the majesty
of God, neither should thy treason be forgiven thee. For
the revelation of such things belongs to God and not to
man.”1 So said the wise Raymund.

Now, for my part I have always honoured the magicians,
their philosophy being both rational and majestic, dwelling
not upon notions but effects, and those such as confirm
both the wisdom and the power of the Creator. When
I was a mere errant in their books and understood them
not, 1 did believe them. Time rewarded my faith and
paid my credulity with knowledge. In the interim I
suffered many bitter calumnies, and this by some envious
adversaries who had nothing of a scholar but their gowns

to be extracted trom metals, which is opposed to his entire thesis. He is
therefore giving a wrong name of the literal kind to the substances which
he has just described figuratively, using familiar terms of alchemy.

1 Juro tibi supra animam meant quod si ea reveles , damnatus es. Nam
a Deo omne procedit bonum et ei soli debetur. Qiiare set vabis et 1 seer e turn
tenebis illudquod ei debetur rev elandum, et affirmabis quam per rectampro-
prietatem sub trains, quee ejus honor i debentur. Quia si revelares brevibus
verbis illud quod longinquo tempore formavit , in die magni Judicii con-
demnareris , tanquam qui perpetrator existens contra Majestatem Dei
Icesam , nec tibi remitteretur casus lessee majestatis . Talium enim revelatio
ad Deum et non ad alterum spec tat . — Theorica, cap. 6.

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and a little language for vent to their nonsense. But
these could not remove me ; with a Spartan patience I
concocted my injuries and found at last that Nature was
magical, not peripatetical. I have no reason then to dis¬
trust them in spiritual things, whom I have found so
orthodox and faithful even in natural mysteries.1 I do
believe Raymund, and in order to that faith I provide for
my salvation. I will not discover, that I may not be
condemned. But if this will not satisfy thee — whoever
thou art — let me whisper thee a word in the ear, and
afterwards do thou proclaim it on the housetop. Dost
thou know from whom and how that sperm or seed which
men for want of a better name call the First Matter pro¬
ceeded ? A certain illuminatee — and in his days a member
of that Society which some painted buzzards use to laugh
at — writes thus : cc God ” — saith he — <c incomparably good
and great, out of nothing created something ; but that
something was made one thing, in which all things were
contained, creatures both celestial and terrestrial.” 2 This
first something was a certain kind of cloud or darkness,
which was condensed into water, and this water is that
one thing in which all things were contained. But my
question is : What was that nothing out of which the first
cloudy chaos or something was made ? Canst thou tell
me ? It may be thou dost think it is a mere nothing.
It is indeed nihil quo ad nos — nothing that we perfectly
know. It is nothing as Dionysius saith : it is nothing

1 The manner of expressing this sentiment may lead to a misappre¬
hension concerning its scope and purport. The exhortation of Lully
does not contain spiritual mysteries or in any wise suggest them, unless
everlasting punishment is one of them. On the other hand, I do not
feel that Vaughan is intimating that the tracts of Lully contain more
than merely natural mysteries ; but if not he is talking in a careless or
exaggerated way.

2 Deus Optimus Maximus ex nihilo aliquid creavitj illud aliquid vero
fiebat unum aliquod , in quo omnia — creaturce ccelestes et terrestres. —
Vaughan’s marginal note reads : “ See Jacob Bohmen in his most ex¬
cellent and profound Discourse of the Three Principles.” It may
be noted that the Teutonic philosopher did not knowT Latin, and I question
whether he was ever translated into that language.

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that was created or of those things that are and nothing
of that which thou dost call nothing — that is, of those
things that are not, in thy empty, destructive sense.1

But, by your leave, it is the True Thing, of Whom we
can affirm nothing. It is that Transcendent Essence
Whose theology is negative and was known to the
primitive Church but is lost in these our days.2 This is
that nothing of Cornelius Agrippa, and in this nothing
when he was tired with human things — I mean human
sciences — he did at last rest. “To know nothing is the
happiest life.” 3 True indeed, for to know this nothing
is life eternal. Learn then to understand that magical
axiom, “the visible was formed from the invisible,” 4 for
all visibles came out of the invisible God, for He is the
well-spring whence all things flow, and the creation was
a certain stupendous birth or delivery. This fine Virgin
Water or chaos was the Second Nature from God Him¬
self and — if I may say so — the child of the Blessed Trinity.5
What doctor then is he whose hands are fit to touch that
subject upon which God Himself, when He works, lays
His own Spirit ? For verily so we read : “ The Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the water.” 6 And can it be
expected then that I should prostitute this mystery to all
hands whatsoever, that I should proclaim it and cry it as

1 Nihil eorum quce sunt , et nihil eorum qua non sunt. — De Mystica
THEOLOGIA, caput 5. But it is instituting a false analogy to compare —
much less to identify — the Nihil Divinum of Dionysius with the creation
out of nothing mentioned by Bohme.

2 Vaughan is here in the singular position of confusing his First Matter
with the abyss of Deity. His marginal reference is to Theologia Negativa
— the tract on Mystical Theology by pseudo-Dionysius.

3 Nihil scire est vita felicissum. It is possible that Agrippa had
Dionysian symbolism in his mind, for he was a man of wide reading ; but
he was not a mystic and it remains an open question. At the same time,
Vaughan was, on the whole, justified in so understanding his author.

4 Ex invisibile factum est visibile.

5 Vaughan’s form of expression is again of the most confusing kind,
making his theology seem almost hopeless on the surface. He does not
appear to dispute the fact of creation ex nihilo , but “the Second Nature
from God” has a clear emanation-implicit, which otherwise seems con¬
trary to his intention.

6 Genesis, i, 2.

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Caelum Terrce

they cry oysters ? Verily these considerations, with some
other which I will not for all the world put to paper, have
made me almost displease my dearest friends, to whom
notwithstanding I owe a better satisfaction. Had it been
my fortune barely to know this Matter, as most men do,
I had perhaps been less careful of it ; but I have been
instructed in all the secret circumstances thereof, which
few upon earth understand. I speak not for any ostenta¬
tion, but I speak a truth which my conscience knows very
well. Let me then, Reader, request thy patience, for I
shall leave this discovery to God, Who — if it be His
blessed will — can call unto thee and say : Here it is, and
thus I work it.

I had not spoken all this in my own defence had I not
been assaulted — as it were — in this very point and told to
my face I was bound to discover all that I knew, for this
age looks for dreams and revelations as the train to their
invisible righteousness. I have now sufficiently discoursed
of the Matter, and if it be not thy fortune to find it by
what is here written yet thou canst not be deceived by
what I have said, for I have purposely avoided all those
terms which might make thee mistake any common salts,
stones or minerals for it. I advise thee withal to beware
of all vegetables and animals : avoid them and every part
of them whatsoever. I speak this because some ignorant,
sluttish broilers are of opinion that man’s blood is the
true subject. But, alas, is man’s blood in the bowels of
the earth, that metals should be generated out of it ? Or
was the world and all that is therein made out of man’s
blood as of their first matter ? Surely no such thing.
The First Matter was existent before man and all other
creatures whatsoever, for she is the mother of them all.
They were made of the First Matter, and not the First
Matter of them. Take heed then : let not any man
deceive thee. It is totally impossible to reduce any par¬
ticular to the First Matter or to a sperm without our
Mercury, and being so reduced it is not universal but the

215

The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

particular sperm of its own species and works not any
effects but what are agreeable to the nature of that species :
for God hath sealed it with a particular idea.1 Let them
alone then who practise upon man’s blood in their
chemical stoves and athanors, or as Sendivogius hath it
in fornaculis mirabilibus .2 They will deplore their error
at last and sit without sackcloth in the ashes of their
compositions.

But I , have done. I will now speak something of
generation and the ways of it, that the process of the
philosophers upon this matter may be the better under¬
stood. You must know that Nature hath two extremes
and between them a middle substance,3 which elsewhere
we have called the middle nature. Example enough we
have in the creation. The first extreme was that cloud
or darkness whereof we have spoken formerly. Some
call it the remote matter and the invisible chaos, but very
improperly, for it was not invisible. This is the Jewish
c Ain Soph outwardly,4 and it is the same with that Orphic
night :

O Night, thou black nurse of the golden stars.5

Out of this darkness all things that are in this world
came, as out of their fountain or matrix. Hence that
position of all famous poets and philosophers — that “all
things were brought forth out of night.” 6 The middle
substance is the Water into which that night or darkness
was condensed, and the creatures framed out of the water
made up the other extreme. But the magicians, when

1 Compare this with Vaughan’s pretended instruction to “flint and
antimony doctors” on p. 21 1. The whole of the present passage is
important for his general hypothesis.

2 The Novum Lumen Chemicum and other tracts of this writer give
many illustrations of the errors and follies of uninstructed alchemists.
See especially the satirical DlALOGUS Mercurii , Alchemists et Natures.

3 A marginal note refers to Anima Magica Abscondita.

4 This is equivalent to the previous comparison between the Divine
Nothing of Dionysius and the First Matter.

6 'H Nu| p.l\aiva XpvGlwv &(TTp(t)V rpo(p e.

6 Omnia ex nocte prodiisse.

2l6

Coelum Terrce

they speak strictly, will not allow of this other extreme,
because Nature does not stay here : wherefore their
philosophy runs thus. Man — say they — in his natural
state is in the mean creation, from which he must recede
to one of two extremes — either to corruption, as commonly
all men do, for they die and moulder away in their
graves ; or else to a spiritual, glorified condition, like
Enoch and Elijah, who were translated. And this — they
say — is a true extreme, for after it there is no alteration.1
Now, the magicians, reasoning with themselves why the
mean creation should be subject to corruption, concluded
the cause and original of this disease to be in the chaos
itself, for even that was corrupted and cursed upon the
Fall of man. But examining things further they found
that Nature in her generations did only concoct the
chaos with a gentle heat. She did not separate the
parts and purify each of them by itself ; but the purities
and impurities of the sperm remained together in all her
productions, and this domestic enemy prevailing at last
occasioned the death of the compound. Hence they
wisely gathered that to minister vegetables, animals or
minerals for physic was a mere madness, for even these
also had their own impurities and diseases, and required
some medicine to cleanse them. Upon this adviso they
resolved — God without all question being their guide —
to practise on the chaos itself. They opened it, purified
it, united what they had formerly separated and fed it
with a twofold fire, thick and thin, till they brought it
to the immortal extreme and made it a spiritual, heavenly
body. This was their physic, this was their magic. In
this performance they saw the image of that face which
Zoroaster calls the pre-existent countenance of the Triad.2

1 The archnatural body is not, however, the body of this life for the
true alchemists, and even in the lower ranks the elixir was not supposed
to render the latter immortal.

2 I give this freely : Triadis vultus ante essentiam existente7n is an
expression in a cloud of unknowing. If it means the state of Godhead
recognised by theologia negativa , this has no form or countenance.

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They perfectly knew the Secundea 1 which contains all
things in her naturally, as God contains all things in Him¬
self spiritually. They saw that the life of all things here
below was a thick fire, or fire imprisoned and incorporated
in a certain incombustible, aerial moisture. They found,
moreover, that this moisture was originally derived from
heaven, and in this sense heaven is styled in the Oracles :
“ Fire, derivation of fire and food of fire.”2

In a word, they saw with their eyes that Nature was
male and female, as the Kabalists express it : a certain
fire of a most deep red colour, working on a most white,
heavy, salacious water,3 which water also is fire inwardly,
but outwardly very cold. By this practice it was mani¬
fested unto them that God Himself was Fire, according
to that of Eximidius in Turba : u The beginning of all
things ” — saith he — <£ is a certain nature, and that eternal
and infinite, cherishing and heating all things.”4 The
truth is, life — which is nothing else but light — proceeded
originally from God and did apply to the chaos, which
is elegantly called by Zoroaster “ the fountain of fountains
and of all fountains, the matrix containing all things.” 5
We see by experience that all individuals live not only
by their heat, but they are preserved by the outward
universal heat which is the life of the great world. Even
so truly the great world itself lives not altogether by that
heat which God hath enclosed in the parts thereof, but
it is preserved by the circumfused, influent heat of the
Deity. For above the heavens God is manifested like
an infinite 6 burning world of light and fire, so that He

1 There are the Secundii or subsidiary gods of Trithemius, who were
great planetary angels, ruling the earth and its kingdoms during succes¬
sive periods of time ; but the name Secundea , or secondary goddess,
applied to the Second Principle, is apparently an invention of Vaughan.

2 Ignis , ignis derivatio et ignis fenu.

3 Ignis ruber super dorsum ignis candidi.

4 Omnium rerum initiimi esse Naturam quandam , eamque perpetuam ,
infinitum, omnia foventem , coquentemque .

6 Fons fontium et fontium cunctorwn , matrix continens cuncta.

6 This paradox is unworthy of Vaughan : neither heaven nor earth can
be described as below that which is infinite.

21 8

Coelum Terrce

overlooks all that He hath made and the whole fabric
stands in His heat and light, as a man stands here on
earth in the sunshine. I say then that the God of
Nature employs Himself in a perpetual coction, and this
not only to generate but to preserve that which hath been
generated ; for His spirit and heat coagulate that which is
thin, rarefy that which is too gross, quicken the dead parts
and cherish the cold. There is indeed one operation of
heat whose method is vital and far more mysterious than
the rest : they that have use for it must study it.

I have for my part spoken all that I intend to speak,
and though my book may prove fruitless to many, be¬
cause not understood, yet some few may be of that spirit
as to comprehend it. “ Spacious flame of spacious mind ”
said the great Chaldean.1 But because I will not leave
thee without some satisfaction, I advise thee to take the
Moon of the firmament, which is a middle nature, and
place her so that every part of her may be in two elements
at one and the same time. These elements also must
equally attend the body, not one further off, not one
nearer than the other. In the regulating of these two
there is a twofold geometry to be observed — natural and
artificial. But I may speak no more.

The true furnace is a little simple shell ; thou mayst
easily carry it in one of thy hands.2 The glass is one
and no more ; but some philosophers have used two,
and so mayst thou. As for the work itself, it is no way
troublesome ; a lady may read the Arcadia and at the
same time attend this philosophy without disturbing her
fancy. For my part, I think women are fitter for it than

1 Amftlce mentis ampla flamma.

2 Compare the disquisitions of Rulandus s.v. Athanor , Fornax and
Fur?ius. Compare also d’Espagnet : Enchiridion Physic^e Restitutve.
Compare finally De FornaCIBUS Construendis, ascribed to the Latin
Geber. Then set against all the witness of Eirenaeus Philalethes in
Fons Chemise Philosophic^, according to which there is one vessel,
one furnace, one fire, and all these are one thing, which is “ our Water.”
Do these figures of speech and does that of Thomas Vaughan suggest
a physical operation ?

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men, for in such things they are more neat and patient,
being used to a small chemistry of sack-possets and other
finical sugar-sops. Concerning the effects of this Medicine
I shall not speak anything at this time. He that desires
to know them let him read the Revelation of Paracelsus,1
a discourse altogether incomparable and in very truth
miraculous. And here without any partiality I shall
give my judgment of honest Hohenheim. I find in the
rest of his works, and especially where he falls on the
Stone, a great many false processes ; but his doctrine of
it in general is very sound. The truth is he had some
pride to the justice of his spleen, and in many places he
hath erred of purpose, not caring what bones he threw
before the schoolmen, for he was a pilot of Guadalcanar
and sailed sometimes in his rio de la recriation.

But I had almost forgot to tell thee that which is all in
all, and it is the greatest difficulty in all the art — namely,
the fire. It is a close, airy, circular, bright fire : the
philosophers call it their sun and the glass must stand in
the shade. It makes not the Matter to vapour — no, not
so much as to sweat. It digests only with a still, piercing,
vital heat. It is continual and therefore at last alters
the chaos and corrupts it. The proportion and regimen
of it is very scrupulous, but the best rule to know it by
is that of the Synod : “ Let not the bird fly before the
fowler.” 2 Make it sit while you give fire, and then you are
sure of your prey. For a close I must tell thee the philoso¬
phers call this fire their bath,8 but it is a bath of Nature,4 *
not an artificial one ; for it is not any kind of water 6 *

1 I do not know what text of or referred to Paracelsus is quoted under
this title. Nothing corresponding thereto is found in the Geneva folios,
claiming to contain the genuine works, nor does the bibliography of
Lenglet du Fresnoy throw any light on the subject.

2 Facite ne fasianus {sic) volet ante insequentem. 3 Balneum.

4 Balneum Natures. It will be noted that the two Philalethes are

saying the same thing.

6 This is presumably equivalent to saying that Philosophical Water,

Aqua nostra of Eirenaeus, is not any ordinary water that is seen and

held and used.

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Coelum Terrce

but a certain subtle, temperate moisture which com-
passeth the glass and feeds their sun or fire. In a word,
without this bath nothing in the world is generated.
Now, that thou mayst the better understand what degree
of fire is requisite for the work, consider the generation
of man, or any other creature whatsoever. It is not
kitchen fire nor fever that works upon the sperm in the
womb, but a most temperate, moist, natural heat which
proceeds from the very life of the mother. It is just
so here. Our Matter is a most delicate substance and
tender, like the animal sperm, for it is almost a living
thing. Nay, in very truth, it hath some small portion of
life, for Nature doth produce some animals out of it.1
For this very reason the least violence destroys it and
prevents all generation ; for if it be overheated but for
some few minutes the white and red sulphurs will never
essentially unite and coagulate. On the contrary, if it
takes cold but for half an hour — the work being once
well begun — it will never sort to any good purpose. I
speak out of my own experience, for I have — as they
phrase it — given myself a box on the ear, and that twice
or thrice, out of a certain confident negligence, expecting
that which I knew well enough could never be.

Nature moves not by the theory of men but by their
practice, and surely wit and reason can perform no miracles
unless the hands supply them. Be sure then to know
this fire in the first place, and accordingly be sure to
make use of it. But for thy better security I will
describe it to thee once more. It is a dry, vapourous,
humid fire ; it goes round about the glass and is both
equal and continual. It is restless, and some have called
it the white philosophical coal. It is in itself natural, but
the preparation of it is artificial. It is a heat of the dead,

1 As if it might bring forth tadpoles ; but how does this statement
about “some small portion of life55 compare with that counter-description
quoted from pseudo-Zoroaster: “the matrix containing all things55? Or
with the description — also quoted — of Bohme : In quo omnia — creaturce
ccelestes et terre sires ?

22 I

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wherefore some call it their unnatural, necromantic fire.
It is no part of the matter, neither is it taken out of
it ; but it is an external fire and serves only to stir up
and strengthen the inward oppressed fire of the chaos.
But let us hear Nature herself, for thus she speaks in
the serious romance of Mehung.1 “ After putrefaction
succeeds generation and that because of the inward,
incombustible Sulphur that heats or thickens the cold¬
ness and crudities of the Quicksilver, which suffers so
much thereby that at last it is united to the Sulphur and
made one body therewith. All this — namely, fire, air
and water — is contained in one vessel. In their earthly
vessel — that is, in their gross body or composition — I
take them, and then I leave them in one alembic, where
I concoct, dissolve and sublime them without the help of
hammer, tongs or file ; without coals, smoke, fire or bath ;
or the alembics of the sophisters. For I have my
heavenly fire, which excites or stirs up the elemental
one, according as the matter desires a becoming agreeable
form.” 2

Now, Nature everywhere is one and the same, where¬
fore she reads the same lesson to Madathan, who thinking
in his ignorance to make the Stone without dissolution
receives from her this check. “ Dost thou think ” — says

1 Jean de Meung continued and completed the Romance of the Rose ,
begun by Guillaume de Loris. The entire poem was regarded as
alchemical and its meaning as such has been unfolded ; but those portions
which carry the Hermetic seal are in the work of the later poet. That
which attracted chief attention is certain “ Remonstrances ” addressed to
an alchemist by Nature and a “ Reply” on his own part. The Mirror
OF Alchemy is also attributed to Jean de Meung. It was first printed
in 1613.

2 Post putref actionem sit ipsa generation idque per internum incomburi-
bilem calorem ad arge7iti vivi frigiditatem cale facie n da m, quod tantum
equidem patitur , ut tandem cum sulphure suo uniatur. Omne illud
uno in vase complexum est , ignis , aer et aqua videlicet , quce in terreno
suo vase accipio , eademque uno in alembico relinquo : et turn coquo ,
dissolvo et sublimio , absque malleo , forcipe , vel lima, sine cai'bonibus,
vapore, igne, aut Marice-balneo et sophistarum alembicis. Ccelestem
namque meum ignem habeo, qui elementalem, prout materia idoneam de-
centemque formam habere desiderat , excitat. — Demonstrate Naturae.

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Ccelum Terrce

she — “ to eat oysters, shells and all ? Ought they not
first to be opened and prepared by the most ancient cook
of the planets ? ” 1 With these agrees the excellent
Flamel, who speaking of the solar and lunar Mercury —
and the plantation of the one in the other — hath these
words : “ Take them therefore ” — saith he — “ and cherish
them over a fire in thy alembic. But it must not be a
fire of coals, nor of any wood, but a bright shining fire,
like the Sun itself, whose heat must never be excessive
but always of one and the same degree.” 2 This is
enough and too much, for the secret in itself is not
great but the consequences of it are so — which made the
philosophers hide it. Thus, Reader, thou hast the out¬
ward agent most fully and faithfully described. It is in
truth a very simple mystery and — if I should tell it
openly — ridiculous. Howsoever, by this and not with¬
out it did the magicians unlock the chaos ; and certainly
it is no news that an iron key should open a treasury
of gold.

In this universal subject they found the natures of all
particulars, and this is signified to us by that maxim :
“ Let him who is not familiar with Proteus have recourse
to Pan.” 3 This Pan is their chaos or Mercury, which
expounds Proteus — namely, the particular creatures,
commonly called individuals. For Pan transforms him¬
self into a Proteus, that is, into all varieties of species,
into animals, vegetables and minerals. For out of the
Universal Nature or First Matter all these are made and
Pan hath their properties in himself. Hence it is that
Mercury is called the Interpreter or Expositor of inferiors
and superiors, under which notion the ancient Orpheus

1 An tu nunc cochleas , vel cancros cum testis dev or are niteris ? An
non prius a vetustissimo plane ta ru m coquo maturari et preeparari illos
oportet ? — Aureum Seculum Redivivum.

2 Su?nantur itaque et noctu i?iterdiuque assidue supra igne??i in alembico
foveantur. Non autem ignis carbonarius vel e ligno confectus , sed clarus
pellucidusque ignis sit , non secus ac sol ipse, qui nunquam plus justo
calidus arde?isque, sed o?nni te?npore ejusdem caloris esse debet.

3 Qui Proteum non novit adeat Pana.

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invokes him : “ Hear me, O Mercury, thou messenger
of Jove and son of Maia, the Expositor of all things.”1
Now, for the birth of this Mercury and the place of it
I find but few philosophers that mention it. Zoroaster
points at it, and that very obscurely, where he speaks of
his Iynges or the Ideas in these words : “ Their multi¬
tudes leap upward, ascending to those shining worlds,
wherein are the three heights, and beneath these there lies
the chief pasture.2 This pratum or meadow of the Ideas,
a place well known to the philosophers — Flamel calls it
their garden and the mountain of the seven metals ; see
his Summary ,3 where he describes it most learnedly, for he
was instructed by a Jew — is a certain secret but universal
region. One calls it the Region of Light,4 but to the
Kabalist it is Night of the Body,5 a term extremely
apposite and significant. It is in few words the rendez¬
vous of all spirits, for in this place the ideas — when they
descend from the bright world to the dark one — are
incorporated. For thy better intelligence thou must
know that spirits whiles they move in heaven, which is
the fire-world, contract no impurities at all, according to
that of Stellatus : “All”— saith he — “that is above the
moon is eternal and good, and there is no corruption of
heavenly things.” 6 On the contrary, when spirits descend
to the elemental matrix and reside in her kingdom they
are blurred with the original leprosy of the matter, for
here the curse raves and rules ; but in heaven it is not
predominant. To put an end to this point, let us hear

1 KA vdi juov 'Epjueta, Aibs &yye\ia, M aiaSos vlbs, 'Ep/j.evr]vs iraurccv.

2 Multce quidem hce scandunt lucidos mundos ,

Insilentes : quarum summitates sunt tres.

Subjectum est if sis frincifale pratum.

3 i.e., Somniaire Philosophique de Nicolas Flamel , appelle autrement
le roman de Flamel. It appeared at Paris in 1561.

4 Regio lucis.

6 Nox corporis — mentioned in one of the CONCLUSIONES KABALlSTlCiE
of Picus de Mirandula.

6 Omne quod est supra lunatn ceternumque bonumque

Esse scias, nec triste aliquid ccelestia tangit. —

Zodiacus VlTM, Liber ix.

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Coelutn Terrce

the admirable Agrippa state it. This is he between
whose lips the truth did breathe and knew no other
oracle. cc The heavenly powers or spiritual essences,
whiles they are in themselves, or before they are united
to the Matter and are showered down from the Father-
of Lights through the holy intelligences and the heavens,
until they come to the moon — their influence is good, as
in the first degree. But when it is received in a corrupt
subject the influence also is corrupted.”1

Thus he. Now, the astronomers pretend to a strange
familiarity with the stars ; the natural philosophers talk
as much ; and truly an ignorant man might well think
they had been in heaven and conversed — like Lucian’s
Menippus2 — with Jove himself. But in good earnest
these men are no more eagles than Sancho ; their fancies
are like his flights in the blanket and every way as short
of the skies. Ask them but where the influences are
received and how ; bid them by fair experience prove
they are present in the elements, and you have undone
them. If you will trust the four corners of a figure or
the three legs of a syllogism you may : this is all their
evidence. Well fare the magicians, then, whose Art can
demonstrate these things and put the very influences in
our hands. Let it be thy study to know their Region of
Light and to enter into the treasures thereof, for then
thou mayst converse with spirits and understand the
nature of invisible things. Then will appear unto thee
the universal subject and the two mineral sperms —
white and red, of which 1 must speak somewhat before
I make an end.

In the Pythagorical Synod which consisted of three

1 Ccelestium vires , dum in se existunt , et a Datore luminum per sanctas
intelligentias et ccelos infiuuntur , quousque ad lunain pervenirent : earum
injiuentia bona est , tanquam in primo gradu ; deinde autem quando in
subjecto viliori suscipitur, ipsa etia?n vilescit. — De Occulta PHILOSOPHIA.

2 Menippus was a Phoenician cynic and the author of certain lost
satires of a very severe character. He appears in the dialogues of
Lucian.

225

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

score and ten philosophers, all Masters of the Art, it is
thus written : “ The thickness or sperm of the fire falls into
the air. The thickness or spermatic part of the air, and
in it the sperm of the fire, falls into the water. The thick¬
ness or spermatic substance of the water, and in it the two
sperms of fire and air, fall into the earth, and there they
rest and are conjoined. Therefore the earth itself is
thicker than the other elements, as it openly appears and
to the eye is manifest.” 1 Remember now what I have
told thee formerly concerning the earth, what a general
hospital it is, how it receives all things, not only beasts
and vegetables but proud and glorious man. When
death hath ruined him, his coarser parts stay here and
know no other home. This earth to earth is just the
doctrine of the Magi. Metals — say they — and all things
may be reduced into that whereof they were made. T*hey
speak the very truth : it is God’s own principle and He
first taught it Adam. “ Dust thou art and unto dust
shalt thou return.” 2 But lest any man should be deceived
by us, I think it just to inform you there are two reduc¬
tions. One is violent and destructive, reducing bodies to
their extremes ; and properly it is death, or the calcina¬
tion of the common chemist. The other is vital and
generative, resolving bodies into their sperm or middle
substance, out of which Nature made them ; for Nature
makes not bodies immediately of the elements but of a
sperm which she draws out of the elements. I shall ex¬
plain myself to you by an example. An egg is the sperm
or middle substance out of which a chick is engendered,
and the moisture of it is viscous and slimy, a water and
no water, for such a sperm ought to be. Suppose Doctor*

1 Ignis spissum in aera cadit ; aeris vero spissum , et quod ex ignt
spisso congregatur , in aquam incidit j aquce quoqite spissum , et quod ex
ignis et aeris spisso coadunatur in terra quiescit. Ista istorum trium
spissitudo in terra quiescit , inque ea conjuncta sunt. Ipsa ergo terra
omnibus cceteris elementis spissior esi, uti palam apparet et videre est:—
Turba Philosophorum, Dictum Secundum. This text is called also
The Third Pythagorical Synod.

2 Genesis, iii, 19.

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Coelum Terrce

Coal — I mean some broiler — had a mind to generate some¬
thing out of this egg : questionless, he would first distil
it, and that with a fire able to roast the hen that laid it.
Then would he calcine the caput mortuum and finally pro¬
duce his nothing.1

Here you are to observe that bodies are nothing else
but sperm coagulated, and he that destroys the body
by consequence destroys the sperm. Now, to reduce
bodies into elements of earth and water — as we have
instanced in the egg — is to reduce them into extremes
beyond their sperm, for elements are not the sperm but
the sperm is a compound made of the elements and con¬
taining in itself all that is requisite to the frame of the
body. Wherefore be well advised before you distil and
quarter any particular bodies, for having once separated
their elements you may never generate unless you can
make a sperm of those elements. But that is impossible
for man to do : it is the power of God and Nature.
Labour then, you that would be accounted wise, to find
out our Mercury : so shall you reduce things to their
mean spermatical chaos. But avoid the broiling destruc¬
tion. This doctrine will spare you the vain task of
distillation, if you will but remember this truth — that
sperms are not made by separation but by composition
of elements ; and to bring a body into sperm is not to
distil it but to reduce the whole into one thick water,
keeping all the parts thereof in their first natural union.

But that I may return at last to my former citation of
the Synod. All those influences of the elements being
united in one mass make our sperm or our earth — which
is earth and no earth. Take it, if thou dost know it,
and divide the essences thereof, not by violence but by
natural putrefaction, such as may occasion a genuine
dissolution of the compound. Here thou shalt find a

1 While there is no question that Vaughan offers an accurate picture of
ignorant alchemical procedure, this and the next paragraph are a curious
undesigned commentary on the state of his own knowledge on the physical
questions about which he discoursed so often.

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The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

miraculous White Water, an influence of the moon,
which is the mother of our chaos. It rules in two
elements — earth and water. After this appears the
sperm or influx of the sun, which is the father of it.
It is a quick celestial fire, incorporated in a thin, oleous,
aerial moisture. It is incombustible, for it is fire itself
and feeds upon fire ; and the longer it stays in the fire
the more glorious it grows. These are the two mineral
sperms — masculine and feminine. If thou dost place
them both on their crystalline basis, thou hast the
philosopher’s flying Fire-Drake,1 which at the first sight
of the sun breathes such a poison that nothing can stand
before him. I know not what to tell thee more unless —
in the vogue of some authors— I should give thee a
phlegmatic description of the whole process, and that I
can despatch in two words. It is nothing else but a
continual coction, the volatile essences ascending .and
descending, till at last they are fixed according to that
excellent prosopopoeia of the Stone :

I am not dead, although my spirit’s gone,

For it returns, and is both off' and on :

Now I have life enough, now I have none.

I suffer’d more than one could justly do ;

Three souls I had and all my own, but two

Are fled : the third had almost left me too.2

“ What I have written, I have written.” 3 And now give
me leave to look about me. Is there no powder-plot

1 The denominational varieties of alchemical fire approach fifty, and
one of them is termed artificial fire, but it does not answer to pyrobolus —
fireworks because it is held to signify Mercury dissolvent.

2 Non ego continuo morior , deme spiritus exit ,

Nam redit assidue, quamvis et scepe recedat ,

Et mihi nunc magna est animce , nunc nulla facultas .

*•

Plus ego sustinui quam corpus debuit unumj
Tres animas habui , quas 07nnes intus habebam ,

Discessere duce , sed tertia pane secuta est .

3 Quod scrip si, scrip si.

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Coelum Terrce

or practice ? What is become of Aristotle and Galen ?
Where are the scribe and pharisee, the disputers of this
world ? If they suffer all this and believe it too, I shall
think the general conversion is come about, and I may
sing :

The Virgin’s sign returns, comes Saturn’s reign.1

But come what will come, I have once more spoken
for the truth and shall for conclusion speak this much
again. I have elsewhere called this subject “ a celestial
slime ” 2 and the middle nature. The philosophers call it
the venerable nature ; but amongst all the pretenders I
have not yet found one that could tell me why. Hear
me then, that whensoever thou dost attempt this work it
may be with reverence — not like some proud, ignorant
doctor, but with less confidence and more care.* This
chaos hath in it the four elements,3 which of themselves
are contrary natures ; but the wisdom of God hath so
placed them that their very order reconciles them. For
example, air and earth are adversaries ; for one is hot
and moist, the other cold and dry. Now to reconcile
these two God placed the water between them, which is
a middle nature, or of a mean complexion between both
extremes. For she is cold and moist ; and as she is cold
she partakes of the nature of the earth, which is cold
and dry ; but as she is moist she partakes of the nature
of the air, which is hot and moist. Hence it is that air
and earth, which are contraries in themselves, agree and
embrace one another in the water, as in a middle nature
which is proportionate to them both and tempers their ex¬
tremities. But verily this salvo makes not up the breach,
forjthough the water reconciles two elements like a friendly
third, yet she herself fights with a fourth — namely, with
the fire. For the fire is hot and dry but the water is cold

1 Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna.

2 Linms coslestis . ' • /

3 This is the general testimony — one primeval substance and four which
issue therefrom ; but the quest is after the unity.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

and moist, which are clear contraries. To prevent the
distempers of these two God placed the air between them,
which is a substance hot and moist ; and as it is hot it
agrees with the fire, which is hot and dry ; but as it is
moist it agrees with the water, which is cold and moist ;
so that by mediation of the air the other two extremes,
namely, fire and water, are made friends and reconciled.
Thus you see — as I told you at first — that contrary ele¬
ments are united bv that order and texture wherein the
Wise God hath placed them.

You must now give me leave to tell you that this
agreement or friendship is but partial — a very weak love,
cold and skittish. For whereas these principles agree in
one quality they differ in two, as your selves may easily
compute. Much need therefore have they of a more
strong and able mediator to confirm and preserve their
weak unity ; for upon it depends the very eternity and
incorruption of the creature. This blessed cement and
balsam is the Spirit of the Living God, Which some
ignorant scribblers have called a quintessence. For this
very Spirit is. in the chaos, and to speak plainly the fire is
His throne,1 for in the fire He is seated, as we have suffici¬
ently told you elsewhere.2 This was the reason why the
Magi called the First Matter their Venerable Nature and
their Blessed Stone. And in good earnest, what think
you ? Is it not so ? This Blessed Spirit fortifies and
perfects that weak disposition which the elements already
have to union and peace — for God works with Nature,
not against her — and brings them at last to a beauteous
specifical fabric.

Now if you will ask me where is the soul or — as the
schoolmen abuse her — the form all this while ? What
doth she do ? To this I answer that she is, as all instru-

1 The quest of alchemy is therefore a quest of God, and in what sense
is it pursued by Vaughan in physics? One would say in the last resource
that it can be in the physics of man’s own body and nowhere else in the
universe.

2 A marginal note refers to Anthroposophia Theomagica.

230

Coelum Terrce

mentals ought to be, subject and obedient to the will of
God, expecting the perfection of her body. For it is God
that unites her to the body and the body to her. Soul
and body are the work of God— the one as well as the
other. The soul is not the artificer of her house, for that
which can make a body can also repair it and hinder death ;
but the soul cannot do this : it is the power and wisdom
of God. In a word, to say that the soul formed the body
because she is in the body is to say that the jewel made
the cabinet because the jewel is in the cabinet ; or that
the sun made the world because the sun is in the world
and cherisheth every part thereof. Learn therefore to dis¬
tinguish between agents and their instruments, for if you
attribute that to the creature which belongs to the Creator
you bring yourselves in danger of hell-fire. For God is
a jealous God and will not give His glory to another. 1
advise my doctors therefore, both divines and physicians,
not to be too rash in their censures, nor so magisterial in
their discourse as I have known some professors of physic
to be — who would correct and undervalue the rest of their
brethren when in truth they themselves were most shame¬
fully ignorant. It is not ten or twelve years’ experience
in drugs and sops can acquaint a man with the mysteries
of God’s creation. “ Take this and make a world ” —
“ Take I know not what and make a pill or clyster ” — are
different receipts.1 We should therefore consult with our
judgments before we venture our tongues and never speak
but when we are sure we understand.

I knew a gentleman who meeting with a philosopher
adept, and receiving so much courtesy as to be admitted
to discourse, attended his first instructions passing well.
But when this magician quitted my friend’s known road
and began to touch and drive round the great wheel of
Nature, presently my gentleman takes up the cudgels,

1 Compare Recipe aliquid ignotum , quantum volueris. It is said to be
given in some alchemical text, but if not there are many instructions which
are equally intelligible and practical.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

and, urging all the authorities which in his vain judgment
made for him, oppressed this noble philosopher with a
most clamourous, insipid ribaldry. A goodly sight it
was and worthy our imitation to see with what an ad¬
mirable patience the other received him. But this errant
concluded at last that lead or quicksilver must be the
subject and that Nature worked upon one or both. To
this the sAdeptus replied : “ Sir, it may be so at this
time, but if hereafter I find Nature in those old ele¬
ments where I have sometimes seen her very busy, I
shall at our next meeting confute your opinion.” This
was all he said and it was something more than he did.
Their next meeting was referred to the Greek Kalends,
for he could never be seen afterwards, notwithstanding
a thousand solicitations.

Such talkative, babbling people as this gentleman was,
who run to every doctor for his opinion and follow like
a spaniel every bird they spring, are not fit to receive
these secrets. They must be serious, silent men, faithful
to the Art and most faithful to their teachers. We should
always remember that doctrine of Zeno: “Nature” —
said he — “gave us one tongue but two ears, that we
might hear much and speak little.” Let not any man
therefore be ready to vomit forth his own shame and
ignorance. Let him first examine his knowledge and
especially his practice, lest upon the experience of a few
violent knacks he presume to judge Nature in her very
sobrieties.

To make an end : if thou dost know the First Matter,
know also for certain thou hast discovered the Sanctuary
of Nature. There is nothing between thee and her
treasures but the door. That indeed must be opened.
Now if thy desire leads thee on to the practice, consider
well with thyself what manner of man thou art and what
it is that thoja wouldest do : for it is no small matter.
Thou hast resolved with thyself to be a co-operator with
the Spirit of the Living God and to minister to Him in

232

Coelurn Terrce

His work of generation.1 Have a care therefore that
thou dost not hinder His work ; for if thy heat exceeds
the natural proportion thou hast stirred the wrath of the
moist natures and they will stand up against the central
fire, and the central fire against them ; and there will be
a terrible division in the chaos. But the sweet Spirit
of Peace, the true eternal quintessence, will depart from
the elements, leaving both them and thee to confusion.
Neither will he apply Himself to that Matter as long as
it is in thy violent, destroying hands. Take heed there¬
fore lest thou turn partner with the devil, for it is the
devil’s design from the beginning of the world to set
Nature at variance with herself, that he may totally corrupt
and destroy her. “ Do not thou further his designs.” 2
I make no question but many men will laugh at this ;
but on my soul I speak nothing but what I have known
by very good experience : therefore believe me. For my
own part, it was ever my desire to bury these things in
silence, or to paint them out in shadows. But I have
spoken thus clearly and openly out of the affection I bear
to some who have deserved much more at my hands.
True it is I intended sometimes to expose a greater work
to the world which 1 promised in my Anthropo sophia ; but
I have been since acquainted with that world and I found
it base and unworthy : wherefore I shall keep in my first
happy solitudes,, for noise is nothing to me. I seek not
any man’s applause. If it be the will of my God to call
me forth and that it may make for the honour of His
Name, in that respect I may write again ; for I fear not
the judgment of man. But in the interim, here shall be
an end.

Finis

1 Note the apparent mixture of distinct concerns.

2 Ne tu augeas faturn.

233

AN EPILOGUE

And now, my Book, let it not stop thy flight
That thy just author is not lord or knight.

I can define myself and have the art
Still to present one face and still one heart.

But for nine years some great ones cannot see
What they have been, nor know they what to be.
What though I have no rattles to my name,

Dost hold a simple honesty no fame ?

Or art thou such a stranger to the times
Thou canst not know my fortunes from my crimes ?
Go forth and fear not : some will gladly be
Thy learned friends whom I did never see.

Nor shouldst thou fear thy welcome ; thy small price
Cannot undo ’em, though they pay excise.

Thy bulk’s not great ; it will not much distress
Their empty pockets but their studies less.

Th’art no galleon, as books of burthen be,

Which cannot ride but in a library.

Th’art a fine thing and little : it may chance
Ladies will buy thee for a new romance.

O how I’ll envy thee when thou art spread
In the bright sunshine of their eyes and read
With breath of amber, lips of rose that lend
Perfumes unto thy leaves shall never spend.

When from their white hands they shall let thee fall
Into their bosoms — which I may not call
Aught of misfortune — thou dost drop to rest
In a more pleasing place and art more blest.

There in some silken, soft fold thou shalt lie,

234

Coelum Terrce

Hid like their love or thy own mystery.

Nor shouldst thou grieve thy language is hot fine,
For it is not my best — though it be thine.

I could have voiced thee forth in such a dress
The spring had been a slut to thy express —

Such as might file the rude unpolish’d age
And fix the reader’s soul to every page.

But 1 have used a coarse and homely strain,
Because it suits with truth — which should be plain.
Last, my dear Book, if any looks on thee
As on three suns or some great prodigy,

And swear to a full point I do deride
All other sects to publish my own pride,

Tell such they lie, and since they love not thee
Bid them go learn some high-shoe heresy.

Nature is not so simple but she can
Procure a solid reverence from man,

Nor is my pen so lightly plumed that I
Should serve ambition with her majesty.

’Tis truth makes me come forth, and having writ
This her short scene I would not stifle it ;

For I have called it child, and 1 had rather
See’t torn by them than strangled by the father.

Soli Deo Gloria

Amen

235

■i.

\

LUMEN DE LUMINE

OR A NEW MAGICAL LIGHT

/

i *

/

♦

The Epistle Dedicatory :

To my Dear Mother,

The Most Famous University of Oxford

I have observed, most dear Mother, and that in most
of thy Sons, a complexion of fame and ingratitude.
Learning indeed they have, but they forget the breasts
that gave it. Thy good works meet not with one Samari¬
tan ; but many hast thou cured of the leprosy of ignorance.
This is the spot that soils our perfections : we have all
drunk of thy fountain, but we sacrifice not the water to
the well. For my own part, I can present thee with
nothing that is voluminous ; but here is a mustard-seed
which may grow to be the greatest amongst herbs. The
draught itself hath nothing of Nature but what is under
the veil. I wish indeed thou mayest see her without a
bridal scarf ; but her face — like that of the Annuntiaia —
expects the pencil of an angel. I cannot say this com¬
posure deserves thy patronage : but give me leave to make
it my opportunity, that I may return the acknowledgment
where I received the benefit. I intend not my address
for the Banks of Isis ; thou hast no portion there, unless
thy stones require my inscription. It is thy dispersed
body 1 have known, and that only 1 remember. Take
it then, wheresoever thou art, in thy sad removes and
visitations. It is neither Sadducee nor Pharisee but the
text of an Israelite and

Thy Legitimate Child

Eugenius Philalethes.

1650.

239

TO THE READER

I have had some contest with myself in the disposal
of this piece, the subject being cross to the genius of the
times, which is both corrupt and splenetic. It was my
desire to keep it within doors, but the relation it bears
to my former discourses hath forced it to the press. It
is the last of my thoughts and — their first reflex being
not complete — I have added this to perfect their image
and symmetry. I must confess 1 have no reason for it
but what my adversaries supply me withal. I would ad¬
vance the truth because they would suppress it. Indeed
I have been scurvily rewarded ; but the success of this
art grows from its opposition ; and this — I believe —
our late libellers have observed, for they quit the science
to quash the professors.1

It is not enough to abuse and misinterpret our writings :
with studied calumnies do they disparage our persons,
whom they never saw and perhaps never will see. They
force us to a bitterness beyond our own dispositions and
provoke men to sin — as if they did drive the same design
with the devil.

For my own part, I will no more hazard my soul by
such uncivil disputes. I know I must give an account
of every idle word.2 This theme hath reduced my
passions to a diet. I have resolved for the future to
suffer, for this I am sure of : God will condemn no man
for his patience.

1 A further reference to Henry More, whose attack seems always to
have rankled in the mind of Vaughan.

2 St Matt., xii, 36.

24O

Lumen de Lumine

The world indeed may think the truth overthrown,
because she is attended with her peace ; for — in the
judgment of most men — where there is no noise there
is no victory. This I shall look upon as no disadvantage.
The estimate of such censors will but lighten the scales ;
and I dare suppose them very weak brains who conceive
the truth sinks because it outweighs them.

As for tempestuous outcries, when they want their
motives they discover an irreligious spirit — one that hath
more of the hurricane than of Christ Jesus. God was
not in the wind that rent the rock to pieces, nor in the
earthquake and fire at Horeb. He was in aura tenui —
in the still, small voice.1

My advice is that no man should resent the common
spleen. Who writes the truth of God hath the same
patron with the truth itself ; and when the world shall
submit to the general tribunal he will find his Advocate
where they shall find their Judge. There is a mutual
testimony between God and His servants : if the Baptist
did bear witness of Christ, Christ also did as much for
the Baptist. He was a burning and a shining light.2

Th is, Reader, I thought fit to preface, that if any dis¬
course of mine be produced hereafter thou may’st not
expect my vindication. I have referred my quarrel to
the God of Nature : it is involved in the concernments
of His truth. I am satisfied with the peace and rest of
a good conscience : I have written nothing but what God
hath verified before my eyes in particular and is able to
justify before the world in general. I have known His
secret light : His candle is my schoolmaster. I testify
those things which I have seen under His very beams,
in the bright circumference of His glory.

When I first put my thoughts to paper — God can bear
me witness — it was not for any private ends. I was
drawn and forced to it by a strong admiration of the
mystery and majesty of Nature. It was my design to

1 I Kings, xix, 12. 2 St John, v, 35.

1 6

241

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

glorify the truth and in some measure to serve the age —
had they been capable of it. But the barbarous insults
I have met withal, and without any deserts of mine, have
forced my charity to keep at home. Truly, had I not
been robbed of my peace, I had imparted some things
which — I am confident — this generation will not receive
from another pen. But the times in this respect fall not
even with Providence, for the years of discovery are not
yet come. This truth — like the dove in the deluge —
must hover in winds and tempests, overlook the surges
and billows, and find no place for the sole of her foot.
But the wise God provides for her : on all these waves
and waters she hath a little bark to return to. Methinks
I see her in the window all wet and weather-beaten.

To conclude : this discourse is my last and the only
key to my first.1 What I have written formerly is like
the Arabian’s Halicali .2 It is Domus signata , a house shut
up : but here I give you the key to the lock. If you
enter, seal up what you see in your hearts. Trust it not
to your tongue, for that’s a flying scroll. Thus I deliver
my light to your hands ; but what returns you will give
me I know not. If you are for peace, peace be with you ;
if for war, I have been so too. But let not him that
girds on his armour boast like him that puts it off.3 Do
well and fare well.

Eugenius Philalethes.

- 1651.

1 The reference is to* Anthroposophia Theomagica. Vaughan
continued to write, and it is perhaps because of this statement that his
next discourse appears under the letters S. N., and seeks to veil its
authorship by the aid of friendly references to Eugenius Philalethes.

2 See note on p. 267.

3 I Kings, xx, ii.

242

t

LUMEN DE LUMINE

I. —The U NDERWORLD

Now Had the night spent her black stage, and all
Her beauteous, twinkling flames grew sick and pale.

Her scene of shades and silence fled, and day
Dress’d the young East in roses, where each ray —
Falling on sables — made the sun and night
Kiss in a checker of mix’d clouds and light.

I think it were more plain and to some capacities more
pleasing if I express myself in this popular, low dialect.
It was about the dawning or daybreak when, tired with a
tedious solitude and those pensive thoughts which attend
it, after much loss and more labour, I suddenly fell asleep.
Here then the day was no sooner born but strangled.
I was reduced to a night of a more deep tincture than
that which I had formerly spent. My fancy placed me
in a region of inexpressible obscurity, and- — as I thought
— more than natural, but without any terrors. I was in
a firm, even temper and, though without encourage¬
ments, not only resolute but well pleased. I moved
every way for discoveries but was still entertained with
darkness and silence ; and I thought myself translated
to the land of desolation. Being thus troubled to no
purpose, and wearied with long endeavours, I resolved to
rest myself, and seeing I could find nothing I expected
if anything could find me.

I had not long continued in this humour but I could
hear the whispers of a soft wind that travelled towards
me ; and suddenly it was in the leaves of the trees, so

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that I concluded myself to be in some wood or wilderness.
With this gentle breath came a most heavenly, odourous
air, much like that of sweet briars, but not so rank and
full. This perfume being blown over, there succeeded a
pleasant humming of bees amongst flowers ; and this did
somewhat discompose me, for I judged it not suitable
with the complexion of the place, which was dark and
like midnight. Now was I somewhat troubled with these
unexpected occurrences when a new appearance diverted
my apprehensions. Not far off on my right hand I could
discover a white, weak light — not so clear as that of a
candle, but misty and much resembling an atmosphere.
Towards the centre it was of a purple colour, like the
Elysian sunshine, but in the dilatation of the circumfer¬
ence milky ; and if we consider the joint tincture of the
parts, it was a painted Vesper, a figure of that splendour
which the old Romans called Sol Mortuorum.1 Whiles I
was taken up with this strange scene there appeared in
the middle purple colours a sudden commotion, and out
of their very centre did sprout a certain flowery light, as
it were the flame of a taper. Very bright it was, spark¬
ing and twinkling like the day-star. The beams of this
new planet — issuing forth in small skeins and rivulets —
looked like threads of silver, which, being reflected against
the trees, discovered a curious green umbrage ; and I
found myself in a grove of bays. The texture of the
branches was so even- — the leaves so thick and in that
conspiring order — it was not a wood but a building.2

I conceived it indeed to be the Temple of Nature, where
she had joined discipline to her doctrine. Under this
shade and screen did lodge a number of nightingales,

1 In a marginal note Vaughan says that Boxhorn falsely interprets this
notion. Alchemical symbolism — it may be added — pictures a region of
strange experience where the sun shines at midnight, and such an inward
realm is known to mystics, but it lies far along the path of attainment.

2 In this description and in much of the account that follows Vaughan
is giving an almost free rein to the spirit of imagination, which makes it
necessary to distinguish the allegory behind his vision from the poetic
images under which it passes into expression.

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Lumen de Lumine

which I discovered by their whitish breasts. These,
peeping through their leafy cabinets, rejoiced at this
strange light, and — having first plumed themselves —
stirred the still air with their music. This I thought
was very pretty, for the silence of the night, suiting with
the solitude of the place, made me judge it heavenly.
The ground, both near and far off, presented a pleasing
kind of checker, for this new star meeting with some
drops of dew made a multitude of bright refractions,
as if the earth had been paved with diamonds. These
rare and various accidents kept my soul busied, but
to interrupt my thoughts, as if it had been unlawful to
examine what I had seen, another, more admirable object
interposed.

I could see between me and the light a most exquisite,
divine beauty— her frame neither long nor short but a
mean, decent stature. Attired she was in thin loose silk
but so green that I never saw the like, for the colour was
not earthly. In some places it was fancied with white
and silver ribbons, which looked liked lilies in a field
of grass. Her head was overcast with a thin, floating
tiffany, which she held up with one of her hands and
looked as it were from under it. Her eyes were quick,
fresh and celestial but had something of a start, as if she
had been puzzled with a sudden occurrence. From her
black veil did her locks break out,, like sunbeams from
a mist. They ran dishevelled to her breasts and then
returned to her cheeks in curls and rings of gold. Her
hair behind her was rolled to a curious globe, with a
small short spire, flowered with purple and sky-coloured
knots. Her rings were pure, entire emeralds — for she
valued no metal — and her pendants of burning carbuncles.
To be short, her whole habit was youthful and flowery :
it smelt like the East and was thoroughly aired with rich
Arabian diapasons. This and no other was her appear¬
ance at that time ; but whiles I admired her perfections
and prepared to make my addresses she prevents me with

245 . *

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a voluntary approach. Here indeed I expected some
discourse from her ; but she, looking very seriously and
^silently in my face, takes me by the hand and softly
whispers I should follow her. This, I confess, sounded
strange ; but I thought it not amiss to obey so sweet
a command, and especially one that promised very much
but was able in my opinion to perform more.

The light which I had formerly admired proved now
at last to be her attendant, for it moved like an usher
before her. This service added much to her glory, and it
was my only care to observe her, who though she wandered
not yet verily she followed no known path. Her walk
was green, being furred with a fine, small grass which
felt like plush, for it was very soft, and pearled all the
way with daisies and primrose. When we came out of
our arbours and court of bays I could perceive a strange
clearness in the air, not like that of day, neither can I
affirm it was night. . The stars indeed perched over us
and stood glimmering, as it were, on the tops of high
hills ; for we were in a most deep bottom and the earth
overlooked us, so that I conceived we were near the
centre. We had not walked very far when I discovered
certain thick, white clouds — for such they seemed to me —
which filled all that part of the valley that was before us.
This indeed was an error of mine ; but it continued not
long, for coming nearer I found them to be firm, solid
rocks but shining and sparkling like diamonds. This
rare and goodly sight did not a little encourage me, and
great desire I had to hear my mistress speak — for so I
judged her now — that if possible I might receive some
information. How to bring this about I did not well
know, for she seemed averse from discourse. But
having resolved with myself to disturb her, I asked her
if she would favour me with her name. To this she
replied very familiarly, as if she had known me long
before.

“ Eugenius ” — said she — u I have many names, but

246

Lumen de Lumine

my best and dearest is Thalia, for I am always green1
and shall never wither. Thou dost here behold the
Mountains of the Moon,2 and I will shew thee the
original of Nilus ; 3 for she springs from these invisible
rocks. ‘ Look up and peruse the very tops of these
pillars and cliffs of salt, for they are the true, philo¬
sophical, lunar mountains. Did’st thou ever see such a
miraculous, incredible thing ? ”

This speech made me quickly look up to those glitter¬
ing turrets of salt, where I could see a stupendous
cataract or waterfall. The stream was more large than
any river in her full channel ; but notwithstanding the
height and violence of its fall it descended without any
noise. The waters were dashed and their current dis¬
tracted by those saltish rocks ; but for all this they
came down with a dead silence — like the still, soft air.
Some of this liquor — for it ran by me — I took up, to see
what strange woollen substance it was that did thus steal
down like snow. When I had it in my hands it was no
common water but a certain kind of oil of a watery com¬
plexion. A viscous, fat, mineral nature it was, bright
like pearls and transparent like crystal. When I had
viewed and searched it well, it appeared somewhat
spermatic, and in very truth it was obscene to the sight
but much more to the touch. Hereupon Thalia told me
it was the First Matter and the very natural, true sperm
of the great world.4 “ It is ” — said she — “ invisible and

1 Thalia is the Greek ©aAeia, one of the nine muses, and comes from a
word which signifies to bear flowers, or be in bloom.

2 This image is particular to Thomas Vaughan, as an allusion to some¬
thing remote and generally inaccessible. It is not found in the alchemists,
so far as I can remember.

3 The same observation applies ; the source of the Nile was unknown
in Vaughan’s days and so was the First Matter, save — ex hypothesi — to
adepts.

4 It is useful to compare this extended description of the First Matter,
seen in pretended vision, with those earlier definitions which tell us that
the supposed substance — “obscene to the sight but much more to the
touch” — is “ the Second Nature from God” and <£ the Child of the Blessed
Trinity.” The First Matter of Vaughan is a matter of his reverie.

247

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

therefore few are they that find it ; but many believe it
is not to be found. They believe indeed that the world
is a dead figure, like a body which hath been sometime
made and fashioned by that spirit which dwelt in it, but
retains that very shape and fashion for some short time
after that the spirit hath forsaken it. They should rather
consider that every frame, when the soul hath left it,
doth decompose and can no longer retain its former
figure ; for the agent that held and kept the parts
together is gone. Most excellent then is that speech
which I heard some time from one of my own pupils.
£ This world ’ — saith he — c of such divers and contrary
parts, would not have reached unity of form had there
not been One who did join together such contrary things.
But, being brought together, the very diversity of the
natures joined, fighting one with another, had discom¬
posed and separated them, unless there had been One to
hold and keep those parts together which He at first did
join. Verily the order of Nature could not proceed with
such certainty, neither could she move so regularly in
several places, times, effects and qualities, unless there
were Some One Who disposed and ordered these varieties
of motions. This, whatsoever it is, by which the world
is preserved and governed, I call by that usual name
God.’ 1

<c Thou must therefore, Eugenius ” — said she — “ under¬
stand that all compositions are made by an Active, In¬
telligent Life ; for what was done in the composure of
the great world in general, the same is performed in the
generation of every creature, and its sperm in particular.
I suppose thou dost know that water cannot be contained

1 Mundus hie ex tam diversis contrariisque partibus in unam formani
minime convenisset , nisi unus esset, qui tam diversa conjungeret. Con-
juncta vero naturarum ipsa diversitas invicem discors dissociaret atque
divelleret , nisi unus esset , qui quod nexuit contineret. Non tam vero
certus natures ordo procederet, nec tam dispositos motus locis , temporibus ,
efficientid, qualitatibus explicaret , nisi unus esset, qui has mutationum
varietates manens ipse disponeret. Hoc quicquid est quo condi ta manent
atque gubernantur usitato cunctis vocabulum Deum no?nino.

248

Lumen de Lumine

but in some vessel. The natural vessel which God hath
appointed for it is the earth. In earth water may be
thickened and brought to a figure ; but of itself, and
without earth, it hath an indefinite flux and is subject to
no certain figure whatsoever. Air also is a fleeting and
indeterminate substance, but water is his vessel ; for water
being figured by means of earth the air also is thickened
and figured in the water. To ascend higher, the air
coagulates the liquid fire, and fire incorporated involves
and confines the thin light. These are the means by
which God unites and .compounds the elements into a
sperm, for the earth alters the complexion of the water,
and makes it viscous and slimy. Such a water must they
seek1 who would produce any magical, extraordinary
effects ; for this spermatic water coagulates with the least
heat, so that Nature concocts and hardens it into metals.
Thou seest the whites of eggs will thicken as soon as
they feel the fire ; for their moisture is tempered with a
pure, subtle earth, and this subtle, animated earth is that
which binds their water. Take water then, my Eugenius,
from the Mountains of the Moon,2 which is water and no
water. Boil it in the fire of Nature3 to a twofold earth,
white and red ; then feed those earths with air of fire and
fire of air ; and thou hast the two magical luminaries.
But because thou hast been a servant of mine for a long
time, and that thy patience hath manifested the truth of
thy love, I will bring thee to my school, and there will I
shew thee what the world is not capable of.”

This was no sooner spoken but she passed by those
diamond-like, rocky salts and brought me to a rock of
adamant, figured to a just, entire cube. It was the basis

1 The remarkable tract of Alipili calls it “ dry water from the philo¬
sophers’ clouds.” The names as usual are many and the reference is in
most cases to Philosophical Mercury, as to that substance which is chiefly
“ desired by the wise.” Thomas of Bonona says that out of this water all
things grow and all things have their nourishment.

2 I do not remember Mountains of the Moon in alchemical symbolism.
Generically, mountains are metals.

3 Compare Geber : “ Burn it in water and wash it in fire.”

249

The Works of Thomas Vaughan •

to a fiery pyramid, a trigon of pure pyrope , whose im¬
prisoned flames did stretch and strive for heaven. To
the four-square of the frontlet of this rock was annexed
a little portal and in that hung a tablet. It was a painted
hedgehog, so rolled and wrapt up in -his bag he could
not easily be discomposed. Over this stood a dog snarl¬
ing and hard by him this instruction : Softly, or he pricks.1

In we went, and having entered the rocks, the interior
parts were of a heavenly, smaragdine colour. Somewhere
they shined like leaves of pure gold, and then appeared a
third inexpressible, purple tincture. We had not gone
very far but we came to an, ancient, majestic altar. On
the offertory,2 or very top of it, was figured the trunk of
an old rotten tree, plucked up by the roots. Out of this
crept a snake — of colour white and green — slow of motion
like a snail and very weak, having but newly felt the sun
that overlooked her. Towards the foot or basis of this
altar was an inscription in old Egyptian hieroglyphics
which Thalia expounded, and this is it :

TO THE BLESSED GODS
IN THE UNDERWORLD3
N. L.
r. a. v. cfi.

From this place we moved straight forward till we came
to a cave of earth. It was very obscure and withal dankish,
giving a heavy odour — like that of graves. Here we
stayed not long, but passing this churchyard we came at
last to the Sanctuary, where Thalia turning to me made
this her short and last speech.

“ Eugenius, this is the place which many have desired
to see, but saw it not. The preparatives to their admis¬
sion here were wanting. They did not love me but mine.
They coveted indeed the riches of Nature, but Nature

1 Suaviter aut pungit.

2 Offertorium was the place on which sacrifices were offered, the top of
the altar.

3 Diis beatis. In ccelo subterraneo .

250

Lumen de Lumine

herself they did both neglect and corrupt. Some advan¬
tages they had in point of assault, had they but studied
their opportunities. I was exposed to their hands but
they knew me not. I was subject in some measure to
their violence, but He that made me would not suffer me
to be rifled. In a word, the ruin of these men was built
on their disposition. In their addresses to me they re¬
sembled those pitiful things which some call courtiers.
These have their antics and raunts, as if they had been
trained amongst apes. They scrape — as one hath well
expressed it — proportions mathematical, make strange legs
and faces, and in that phrase of the same poet

‘Vary their mouths as ’twere by magic spell
To figures oval, square and triangle.’

So these impudent sophisters assaulted me with vainglorious

humours. When I looked into their hearts there was

>

no room for me. They were full of proud thoughts and
dreamed of a certain riotous happiness which must be
maintained by my expenses and treasures.1 In the interim
they did not consider that I was plain and simple, one that
did not love noise but a private, sweet content. I have,
Eugenius, found thee much of my own humour. I have
withal found thy expectations patient. Thou canst easily
believe where thou hast reason to thy faith. Thou hast
all this while served without wages : now is the time
come to reward thee. My love I freely give thee, and
with it these tokens — my key and seal. The one shuts,
the other opens : be sure to use both with discretion.
As for the mysteries of this my school, thou hast the
liberty to peruse them all ; there is not anything here
but I will gladly reveal it to thee. I have one precept
that 1 shall commend to thee, and this is it : you must be

1 Compare Jean de Meung’s address of Nature to the “stolid philo-
sophaster” in the Demonstration of Nature; also Sendivogius : A
Dialogue between Mercury, the Alchemist and Nature ; and
the further debate in the tract Concerning Sulphur, ascribed to
Sendivogius. Thalia’s discourse is more or less modelled on these.

251

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

silent. You shall not in your writings exceed my allow¬
ances. Remember that I am your love, and you will not
' make me a prostitute. But because I wish you serviceable
to those of your own disposition, I here give you an
emblematical type of my Sanctuary,1 with a full privilege
to publish it. This is all, and I am now going to that
invisible region where is the abode of the immortals.2 Let
not that proverb take place with you : Out of sight, out
of mind. Remember me and be happy.”

These were her instructions, which were no sooner
delivered but she brought me to a clear, large light ; and
here I saw those things which I must not speak of.
Having thus discovered all the parts of that glorious
labyrinth,, she did lead me out again with her clue of
sunbeams — her light that went shining before us. When
we were past the rocks of Nilus she shewed me a secret
staircase, by which we ascended from that deep and
flowery vale to the face of this our common earth. Here
Thalia stopped in a mute ceremony, for I was to be left
all alone. She looked upon me in silent smiles, mixed
with a pretty kind of sadness, for we were unwilling to
part. But her hour of translation was come, and taking
— as I thought — our last leave, she passed before my
eyes unto the eternal,3 into the ether of Nature.

Now verily was I much troubled and somewhat dis¬
ordered ; but composing myself as well as I could I
came to a cop of myrtles, where resting myself on a
flowery bank I began to consider those things which I
had seen. This solitude and melancholy study continued
not long, for it met with a very grateful interruption. I
could see Thalia — as it were — at the end of a landscape,
somewhat far off ; but in a moment she was in the
myrtles, where, seating herself hard by me, I received
from her this discourse.

“ I would not, Eugenius, have thee ignorant of the

1 See the Frontispiece inscribed S choice Magicce Typus.

2 "IF adai'drcov 'Ifios icrrlv. — ILIAD : Book viii. 3 npbs ailava.

252

Lumen de Lumine

unity and concentration of sciences.1 In the past and
more knowing years of the world, when magic was better
and more generally understood, the professors of this
art divided it into three parts — elemental, celestial and
spiritual. The elemental part contained all the secrets
of physic, the celestial those of astrology and the spiritual
those of Divinity. Every one of these by itself was but
a branch or limb, but being united all three they were the
pandects of the science. Now in these thy days there is
no man can shew thee any real physic or astrology ;
neither have they any more than a tongue and book
Divinity. The reason of it is this : in process of time
these three sciences — which work no wonders without a
mutual, essential union — were by misinterpretation dis¬
membered and set apart, so that every one of them was
held to be a faculty by itself. Now God had united these
three in one natural subject,2 but man he separated them
and placed them in no subject, but in his own brain,
where they remained in words and fancy, not in sub¬
stantial elements and verity. In this state the sciences
were dead and ineffectual ; they yielded nothing but noise,
for they were separated — as if thou should st dismember a
man and then expect some one part of him should perform
those actions which the whole did when he was alive.

u Thou dost know by very natural experience that out
of one specifical root there grow several different sub¬
stances, as leaves, flowers, fruit and seed. So out of one
universal root — namely, the chaOs — grow all specifical
natures and their individuals. Now there is no true
science or knowledge but what is grounded upon
sensible, particular substances, or upon the sensible,

1 Compare Raymund Lully’s dream of an universal science, out of
which came the Ars Magna Sciendi ; but it was little more than an
elaborate art of debate.

2 The expression is curious, having regard to the distinction which
follows — namely, that it is not the brain of man. The question is whether
Vaughan alludes to the simple mind above the logical understanding.
But he affirms almost immediately that the First Matter or chaos is the
centre of all sciences.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

universal substance, out of which all particulars are made.
As for universals in the abstract, there are no such things ;
they are empty, imaginary whimsies, for abstractions are
but so many fantastic suppositions. Consider now,
Eugenius, that all individuals, even man himself, hath
nothing in him materially but what he received from the
material, universal Nature. Consider again that the
same individuals are reducible to their first physical
universal, matter, and by consequence this universal
matter hath in itself the secrets and mysteries of all
particulars ; for whatsoever includes the subject itself
includes the science of that subject. In the First Matter
the Divine Wisdom is collected in a general chaotical
centre,1 but in the particulars made of the First Matter
it is dispersed and spread out, as it were, to a circum¬
ference. It remains then that the chaos is the centre of
all sciences,2 to which they may and ought to be reduced,
for it is the sensible, natural Mysierium Magnum and
under God the secondary Temple of Wisdom.3 Search
therefore and examine the parts of this chaos by the rules
and instructions received when I was with thee in the
mineral region. Dwell not altogether on the practice,
for that is not the way to improve it. Be sure to add
reason to thy experience and to employ thy mind as well
as thy hands. Labour to know all causes and their
effects : do not only study the receipt, like that broiling,
frying company, who call themselves chemists but ar.e
indeed no philosophers.

“ This is all which I think fit to add to my former pre-

1 I suppose that this may be taken as an allusion to the immanence of
the Christ-Spirit in the universe from the very beginning of manifestation,
and as then in the chaos — according to Vaughan’s terminology — so after¬
wards in all the orders and classes included by the cosmos.

2 Ex hypothesi and otherwise, it could be so only in respect of Divine
Immanence.

3 Concerning the first Temple we do not hear : it is perhaps that palace
or sanctuary at the centre figured as the Divine habitation before there
was any evolution of beings and of things — a place which is no place, the
Sanctuary which is He.

254

Lumen de Lumine

scriptions ; but that which made me return was some¬
thing else, and now thou shalt receive it. Thou hast
heard sometimes, I suppose, of the beryllistic part of
magic : 1 have a care to apprehend me, and I will shew
thee the foundation. Thou must know the stars can im¬
press no new influx in perfect, complete bodies ; they
only dispose and in some measure stir up that influence
which hath been formerly impressed. It is most certain,
Eugenius, that no astrobolism 2 takes place without some
previous corruption and alteration in the patient, for
Nature works not but in loose, moist, discomposed
elements. This distemper proceeds not from the stars
but from the contrariety of the elements amongst them¬
selves. Whensoever they fall out and work their own dis¬
solution, then the celestial fire puts in to reconcile them
again and generates some new form, seeing the old one
could consist no longer. Observe then that the genuine
time of impressions is when the principles are spermatic
and callow ; but being once coagulated to a perfect body
the time of stellification is past. Now the ancient Magi
in their books speak of strange astrological lamps, images,
rings and plates, which being used at certain hours would
produce incredible, extraordinary effects.8 The common
astrologer he takes a stone, or some piece of metal, figures
it with ridiculous characters and then exposeth it to the
planets, not in an alkemusi 4 but as he dreams himself — he

1 The beryl is described by Aubrey in his MISCELLANIES as “a kind .of
crystal that hath a weak tincture of red.” It was used for seering purposes,
and the Ritual of invoking spirits therein is found among the lesser pro¬
cesses of ceremonial magic.

2 Astrobolis?nus is an equivalent in late Latin for the classical sideratio ,
meaning primarily the withering or blasting of trees through wind or
drought ; but it stood also for a seizure of human beings, known otherwise
as planet-struck, a benumbed condition, one of temporary paralysis.

3 The suggestion is that the rings and the images were not images or
rings, just as in alchemy the water is no water, .the stone is not a stone,
and so forth. It is scarcely the inference which would be carried away
from a study of Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy.
Ceremonial Magic is very old and it has always made use of instruments.

4 I have not found this word in Arabian or Syriac alchemy : it is no
doubt a corruption of one which has been changed out of all knowledge.

255

The IV orks of Th omas V a ugh an

knows not how. When this is done, all is to no purpose ;
but though they fail in their practice yet they believe
they understand the books of the Magi well enough.
Now, Eugenius, that thou mayst know what to do, I
will teach thee by example. Take a ripe grain of corn
that is hard and dry ; expose it to the sunbeams in a glass,
or any other vessel, and it will be a dry grain for ever.
But if thou dost bury it in the earth, that the nitrous,
saltish moisture of that element may dissolve it, then the
sun will work upon it and make it spring and sprout to a
new body. It is just thus with the common astrologer :
he exposeth to the planets a perfect, compacted body and
by this means thinks to perform 'the magician’s Gama^ea^
and marry the inferior and superior worlds. It must be
a body reduced into sperm, that the heavenly, feminine
moisture, which receives and retains the impress of the
astral agent, may be at liberty and immediately exposed
to the masculine fire of Nature. This is the ground of
the Beryl ; but you must remember that nothing can be -
stellified without the joint magnetism of three heavens.
What they are I have told you elsewhere, and I will not
trouble you, with repetitions.”

When she had thus said she took out of her bosom
two miraculous medals — not metalline but such as I had
never seen, neither did I conceive there were in Nature
such pure and glorious substances. In my judgment
they were two magical Astrolasms, but she called them
sapphirics of the sun and moon. These miracles she
commended to my perusal, excusing herself as being
sleepy : otherwise she had expounded them for me. 1
looked, admired and wearied myself in their contempla-

1 Gaffarel devotes considerable space to this subject in his Unheard of
Curiosities, the English rendering of which by Edmund Chilmead was
published in the same year as Anthroposophia Theomagica. Gamahes
or Chamaieu were originally natural figured agates or other stones, the
remarkable shapes of which, or the pictures appearing thereon, were
supposed to have singular virtues. The word was extended afterwards
to include similar curiosities of plant and animal life.

256

Lumen de Lumine

tion. Their complexion was so heavenly, their contriv¬
ance so mysterious I did not well know what to make
of them. I turned aside to see if she was still asleep
but she was gone, and this did not a little trouble me.
I expected her return till the day was quite spent, but
she did not appear. At last, fixing my eyes on that place
where she sometimes rested, I discovered certain pieces
of gold which she had left behind her, and hard by a
paper folded like a letter. These I took up and now—
the night approaching — the evening star tinned in the
West, when taking my last survey of her flowery pillow
I parted from it in this verse.

Pretty green bank, farewell, and mayst thou wear
Sunbeams and rose and lilies all the year.

She slept on thee but needed not to shed
Her gold ; ’twas pay enough to be her bed.

Thy flowers are favourites ; for this loved day
They were my rivals and with her did play.

They found their heaven at hand and in her eyes
Enjoy’d a copy of their absent skies.

Their weaker paint did with true glories trade
And — mingled with her cheeks — one posy made.

And did not her soft skin confine their pride
And with a screen of silk both flowers divide,

They had suck’d life from thence and from her heat
Borrow’d a soul to make themselves complete.

O happy pillow, though thou art laid even
With dust, she made thee up almost a heaven.

Her breath rained spices, and each amber ring
Of her bright locks strew’d bracelets o’er thy spring.

That earth’s not poor did such a treasure hold
But thrice enrich’d with amber, spice and gold.

This is that emblematical, magical type which Thalia
delivered to me in the invisible Guiana.1 The first and
superior part of it represents the Mountains of the Moon.

1 Whether visible or invisible, Guiana is of no special repute or know¬
ledge in alchemy, and only some personal predilection could have led
Vaughan to introduce it here in a figurative sense. See Frontispiece.

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The philosophers commonly call them the Mountains
of India, on whose tops grows their secret and famous
Lunaria.1 It is an herb easy to be found but that men
are blind ; for it discovers itself and shines after night
like pearl. The earth of these Mountains is very red,
and soft beyond all expression. It is full of crystalline
rocks, which the philosophers call their glass and their
stone. Birds and fish — say they — bring it to them.
Of these Mountains speaks Hali the Arabian,2 a most ex¬
cellent, judicious author. “ Go, my son, to the Mountains
of India and to their quarries or caverns, and take thence
our precious stones, which dissolve or melt in water when
they are mingled therewith.” 3 Much indeed might be
spoken concerning these mountains, if it were lawful
to publish their mysteries : but one thing I shall not
forbear to tell you. They are very dangerous places
after night, for they are haunted with fires and other
strange apparitions, occasioned — as I am told by the
Magi — by certain spirits which dabble lasciviously with
the sperm of the world and imprint their imaginations
in it, producing many times fantastic and monstrous
generations. The access and pilgrimage to this place,
with the difficulties which attend them, are faithfully and
magisterially described by the Brothers of R. C. Their
language indeed is very simple, and with most men
perhaps contemptible. But to speak finely was no part
of their design ; their learning lies not in the phrase but
in the sense ; and that it is which I propose to the con¬
sideration of the reader.

1 The Moon-plant belongs especially to herbalism, but it passed into
the symbolism of alchemy rather early in the Latin period. A tract
attributed to Maria, the imputed sister of Moses, says that Sophie
Mercury is two white plants found among little hills, and there are two
kinds of Lunaria. Moreover, the Moon is a name given to Mercury.
But some alchemists use Lunaria to signify the Sulphur of Nature.

2 Hali is mentioned once by Paracelsus, but he and his tract have
escaped the vigilance of Lenglet du Fresnoy.

3 Vade, filii , ad Montes Indies et ad cavernas suasy et accipe ex eis
lapides honoratos qui liquefiunt in aqua , qua?ido commiscentur ei.

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Lumen de Lumine

II. — A Letter from the Brothers of R. C. con¬
cerning the Invisible, Magical Mountain and
the Treasure therein contained1

Every man naturally desires a superiority, to have
treasures of gold and silver, and to seem great in the
eyes of the world. God indeed created all things for the
use of man, that he might rule over them and acknow¬
ledge therein the singular goodness and omnipotence of
God, give Him thanks for His benefits, honour Him
and praise Him. But there is no man looks after these
things otherwise than by spending his days idly. They
would enjoy them without any previous labour and
danger ; neither do they look them out of that place where
God hath treasured them up, Who expects also that man
should seek for them there, and to those that seek will
He give them. But there is not any that labours for a
possession in that place, and therefore these riches are not
found. For the way to this place — and the place itself —
hath been unknown for a long time, and it is hidden from
the greatest part of the world. But notwithstanding it be
difficult and laborious to find out this way and place, yet
the place should be sought after. But it is not the will
of God to conceal anything from those that are His ; and
therefore in this last age — before the final judgment comes
— all these things shall be manifested to those that are
worthy. As He Himself — though obscurely, lest it should
be manifested to the unworthy — hath spoken in a certain
place : “ There is nothing covered that shall not be re-

1 This communication may be contrasted with the Latin letter published
in SUMMUM Bonum, a treatise under the name of Joachim Fritz, attached
to Robert Fludd’s Sophia: cum Moria Certamen and generally regarded
as his work. A translation of the letter appears in my Real History
OF THE ROSICRUCIANS. It is much inferior to the document printed
above, but both are of interest as claiming to be official messages of the
Brotherhood. Very little early Rosicrucian literature is available in
England— either in public or private libraries — and I am unable to say
whether Vaughan drew from a published work or not.

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vealed and hidden that shall not be known.” 1 We there¬
fore, being moved by the Spirit of God, do declare the
will of God to the world, which we have also already
performed and published in several languages.2 But most
men either revile or contemn that our Manifesto, or else
- — waiving the Spirit of God — they expect the proposals
thereof from us, supposing we will straightway teach them
how to make gold by art, or furnish them with ample
treasures, whereby they may live pompously in the face
of the world, swagger and make wars, turn usurers,
gluttons and drunkards, live unchastely and defile their
whole life with several other sins— all which things are
contrary to the blessed will of God. These men should
have learnt from those ten Virgins — whereof five that
were foolish demanded oil for their lamps from those five
that were wise 3 — how that the case is much otherwise. It
is expedient that every man should labour for this treasure
by the assistance of God and his own particular search
and industry. But the perverse intentions of these fellows
we understand out of their own writings, by the singular
grace and revelation of God. We do stop our ears and
wrap ourselves, as it were, in clouds to avoid the bellow-
ings and howlings of those men who in vain cry out for
gold. And hence indeed it comes to pass that they brand
us with infinite calumnies .and slanders, which notwith¬
standing we do not resent ; but God in His good time
will judge them for it. But after that we had well known
— though unknown to you — and perceived by your writ¬
ing how diligent you are to peruse the Holy Scripture
and seek the true knowledge of God ; we have also above

1 The reference given is to St Matt., x, 26, which Vaughan quotes at
full length in his translation, but the Latin letter expresses it only in
summary form : Nihil est ahsconditum quod non reveletur. Compare
Paracelsus : Nihil est opertus quod non revelabitur and Nihil in homine
abstrusum sit quod non reveletur. — Explicatio Totius Astronomic,
s.v. Probatio in Scientiam Signatam.

2 A reference to the Fama Fraternitatis R. G\, which appeared
almost simultaneously in German, Dutch and Latin.

3 St Matt., xxi, 1 -12.

260

Lumen de Lumine

many thousands thought you worthy of some answer ; and
we signify this much to you by the will of God and the
admonition of the Holy Ghost.1

There is a mountain situated in the midst of the earth
or centre of the world which is both small and great. It
is soft, also above measure hard and stony. It is far off
and near at hand, but by the providence of God invisible.2
In it are hidden most ample treasures, which the world is
not able to value. This mountain — by envy of the devil,
who always opposeth the glory of God and the happiness
of man — is compassed about with very cruel beasts and
other ravening birds — which make the way thither both
difficult and dangerous.3 And therefore hitherto — because
the time is not yet come — the way thither could not be
sought after nor found out. But now at last the way is
to be found by those that are worthy — but notwithstand¬
ing by every man’s self-labour and endeavours.

To this Mountain you shall go in a certain night —
when it comes — most long and most dark, and see that
you prepare yourselves by prayer. Insist upon the way
that leads to the Mountain, but ask not of any man where
the way lies. Only follow your Guide, who will offer
himself to you and will meet you in the way. But you
shall not know him. This Guide will bring you to the
Mountain at midnight, when all things are silent and
dark. It is necessary that you arm yourselves with a
resolute, heroic courage, lest you fear those things that

1 It is said in the other communication: “Our fellowship is with the
Father and with Jesus ; and we write unto you that you may rejoice
because God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

2 As pseudo-Dionysius suggests that we can approximate towards a
notion of the Divine Nature by the way of negation rather than of affirma¬
tion, but ends by testifying that God is nothing of that which is and
nothing of that which is not, so the alchemists used the terms of contra¬
diction to describe their symbolical Stone and other Hermetic secrets.
The delineation above is equivalent to stating that the mountain is not a
mountain. In this case it seems to indicate some mystery of spiritual
attainment. In the secret schools we hear of a mountain of initiation.

3 As the sanctuary of our inward nature is encompassed and made
difficult of attainment by the powers of evil within us.

26l

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

will happen and so fall back. You need no sword nor
any other bodily weapons : only call upon God sincerely
and heartily. When you have discovered the Mountain
the first miracle that will appear is this : A most vehement
and very great wind that will shake the Mountain and
shatter the rocks to pieces. You shall be encountered
also by lions and dragons and other terrible beasts ; but
fear not any of these things. Be resolute and take heed
that you return not, for your Guide 1 — who brought you
thither — will not suffer any evil to befal you. As for
the treasure, it is not yet discovered ; but it is very near.
After this wind will come an earthquake that will over¬
throw those things which the wind hath left and make
all flat. But be sure that you fall not off. The earth¬
quake being past, there shall follow a fire that will con¬
sume the earthly rubbish and discover the treasure.
But as yet you cannot see it. After all these things and
near the daybreak there shall be a great calm ; and you
shall see the Day-Star arise and the dawning will appear
and you shall perceive a great treasure. The chiefest
thing in it and the most perfect is a certain exalted
Tincture, with which the world — if it served God and
were worthy of such gifts — might be tinged and turned
into most pure gold.

This Tincture being used as your Guide shall teach you
will make you young when you are old, and you shall
perceive no disease in any part of your bodies. By means
of this Tincture also you shall find pearls of that excellency
which cannot be imagined. But do not you arrogate
anything to yourselves because of your present power ;
but be contented with that which your Guide shall com¬
municate to you. Praise God perpetually for this His
gift, and have a special care that you use it not for worldly

1 Compare The Book of Lambspring, containing figures and emblems
De Lapide Philo soph orum . The Guide leads a figurative Son of the
King to a very high mountain, that he may understand all wisdom and
behold the heavenly throne. The Guide and Son are said to signify
Spirit and Soul.

262

Lumen de Lumine

pride ; 1 but employ it in such works which are contrary to
the world. Use it rightly and enjoy it so as if you had it
not. Live a temperate life and beware of all sin : other¬
wise your Guide will forsake you and you shall be deprived
of this happiness. For know this of a truth : whosoever
abuseth this Tincture and lives not exemplarly, purely and
devoutly before men, he shall lose this benefit and scarce
any hope will there be left ever to recover it afterwards.

Thus have they described unto us the Mount of God,
the mystical, philosophical Horeb — which is nothing else
but the highest and purest part of the earth.2 3 For the
superior, secret portion of this element is holy ground,
and Aristotle tells his Peripatetics that “wheresoever is
that which is higher there also is that which is more
divine.” 8 It is the seed-plot of the Eternal Nature, the
immediate vessel and recipient of heaven, where all
minerals and vegetables have their roots and by which
the animal monarchy is maintained. This philosophical
black Saturn mortifies and coagulates the invisible Mer¬
cury of the stars ; and — on the contrary — the Mercury
kills and dissolves the Saturn ; and out of the corruption
of both the central and circumferential suns generate a
new body. Hence the philosophers describing their
Stone tell us that it is a black, vile and fetid Stone, and
it is called the origin of the world and it springs up like
germinating things.4 * As for the Epistle of the Fraternity

1 One of the most frequent temptations of those who have gone a
certain distance along the path of the Spirit.

2 It is plain by preceding texts that earth is not earth, according to the
thesis of Vaughan. There is the ft virgin earth of the philosophers,” a
metaphysical basis of bodies, their kernel or centre, a simple principle
of all composites. There is also a figurative earth which is the minera
of that matter out of which Sophie Mercury is extracted. Finally, the
hypothetical fixed Mercury is sometimes called earth. As to the
Rosicrucian Mount of God, it is earth in the sense that the mystical
Horeb is earth of the world to come and the Land of the Living.

3 Locus quo excelsior , eo divinior.

4 Lapis niger , vilis et foetens , et dicitur origo mundi , et oritur sicut

germinaniia.

263

The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

I have for satisfaction of the ordinary reader put it into
English. I know some doctors will think it no advantage,
but then they confess their ignorance. I can assure them
the subject is nowhere so clearly discovered ; and for
the first abstruse preparation there is no private author
hath mentioned it, but here we have it entirely and withal
most faithfully described. I confess indeed their instruc¬
tion wears a mask, but very plain and pervious.

This much we have from these famous and most
Christian philosophers, men questionless that have
suffered much by their own discreet silence and solitude.
Every sophister contemns them because they appear not
to the world and concludes there is no such Society
because he is not a member of it. There is scarce a
reader so just as to consider upon what grounds they
conceal themselves and come not to the stage when every
fool cries : Enter. No man looks after them but for
worldly ends, and truly if the Art itself did not promise
gold I am confident it would find but few followers.
How many are there in the world that study Nature to
know God ? Certainly they study a receipt for their
purses, not for their souls, nor in any good sense for
their bodies. It is fit then they should be left to their
ignorance, as to their cure. It may be the nullity of
their expectations will reform them ; but as long as they
continue in this humour neither God nor good men will
assist them.

The inferior part of this type presents a dark circle,1
charged with many strange chimaeras and Aristotle’s
Tragelaphos — that metaphysical beast of the schoolmen.2
It signifies the innumerous conceited whimsies and airy,
roving imaginations of man. For before we attain to

1 Here follows Vaughan’s further descriptive interpretation of the
S choice Magicce Typus.

2 Tpaye\a<pos, i.e Hirco~ce?ruus , the Tragelaphus of Pliny, a mythical
combination of goat and stag. What follows in the text of Vaughan is
an excellent account of the universal medium — or astral light — of all the
mental follies.

264

Lumen de Lumine

the truth we are subject to a thousand fancies, fictions
and apprehensions, which we falsely suppose and many
times publicly propose for the truth itself. This fantastic
region is the true, original seminary of all sects and their
dissensions. Hence came the despairing sceptic, the
loose epicure, the hypocritical stoic and the atheous
peripatetic ; hence also their several digladiations about
Nature — whether the First Matter be fire, air, earth or
water, or a fry of imaginary atoms, all which are false
and fabulous suppositions. If we look on religion and
the diversities thereof, whence proceeded the present
heresies and schisms but from the different erroneous
apprehensions of men ? Indeed whiles we follow our own
fancies and build on bottomless, unsettled imaginations
we must needs wander and grope in the dark, like those
that are blindfolded. On the contrary, if we lay the line
to our thoughts and examine them by experience, we are
in the way to be infallible, for we take hold of that rule
which God hath proposed for our direction. In vain
hath He made Nature if we dwell on our own concep¬
tions and make no use of her principles. It were a
happy necessity if our thoughts could not vary from her
ways. But certainly for us to think that we can find
truth by mere contemplation without experience 1 is as
great a madness as if a man should shut his eyes from
the sun and then believe he can travel directly from
London to Grand Cairo by fancying himself in the right
way, without the assistance of the light. It is true that
no man enters the Magical School but he wanders first
in this region of chimaeras, for the inquiries which we
make before we attain to experimental truths are most of

1 This is not less true in deep things of the spiritual order than in
those which are external and physical. It is for this reason that the
common counsels of contemplation, but especially those imported and
modern processes which have become familiar among us, are found to
and can lead nowhere. There is, however, the contemplation of St
Thomas Aquinas, which — he says — is love, that “continual contemplation
of an absent beauty,” mentioned by Saint-Martin, until the day comes
when its living presence abides within us.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

them erroneous. Howsoever, we should be so rational
and patient in our disquisitions as not imperiously to
obtrude and force them upon the world before we are
able to verify them.

I ever approved that regular and solid speech of Basil
Valentine : 1 “ Be advised, therefore, my wrangler, and
seek with thine own eyes, even thy very hand, that first
foundation which Nature holds hidden within her : so
only shalt thou be able to reason with judgment wisely
and build upon the impregnable rock. Apart from this
thou must remain a vacant and fantastic trifler, whose
argument in the absence of experience shall be rooted in
sand alone. On the other hand, the man who would
teach me anything by rhetorical figures and trifles should
know that he can in no wise satisfy me with empty
words, for it is indispensable that proof drawn from the fact
of experience be also at hand.” And in another place :
“ I value not the trifler who speaks otherwise than from
his proper experience, for his discourse has the same
foundation as the judgment of a blind man about
colours.” 2 Questionless, all this was the breath of a true
philosopher — one that studied not the names but the
natures of things. I oppose it as battery to the school¬
men : if they will needs muster their syllogisms, I expect
also they should confirm their noise by their experience.

Within this fantastic circle stands a Lamp, and it
typifies the Light of Nature. This is the Secret Candle
of God, which He hath tinned in the elements : it
burns and is not seen, for it shines in a dark place.

1 Disce igitur , Disputator mi , et inquire primum fundamentum ipsis
oculis et manu, quod Natura secum fert absco?tditum. Sic demum
prudenter et cum judicio de rebus disserere , et supra inexpugnabilem
petram cedificare poteris. Sine hoc autem va?nts et phantasticus nugator
manebis , cujus sermones absque ulla experientid supra arenam solum
fundati sunt. Qui autem sermocinationibus suis et nugis me aliquid
docere vult , is me verbis tantum nudis non pascat , sed experientice factum
documentum simul sit prcesto oportet, sine quo non teneor verbis locum
dare, fidemque iis adhibere.

2 Nugatorem hand moror qui non per experientia?n proprium loquitur.
Nam ejus sermones perinde fundati sunt ac cceci judicium de coloribus.

2 66

Lumen de Lumine

Every natural body is a kind of black lantern ; it carries
this Candle within it, but the light appears not : it is
eclipsed with the grossness of the matter. The effects
of this Light are apparent in all things ; but the light
itself is denied, or else not followed. The great world
hath the sun for his life and candle ; according to the
absence and presence of this fire all things in the world
flourish or wither. We know by experience- — and this
in our own bodies — that as long as life lasts there is a
continual coction, a certain seething or boiling within us.
This makes us sweat and expire in perpetual defluxions
at the pores ; and if we lay our hands to our skin we can
feel our own heat, which must needs proceed from an
enclosed fire or light. All vegetables grow and augment
themselves ; they put forth their fruits and flowers, which
could not be if some heat did not stir up and alter the
matter. We see, moreover, that in vegetables this light
is sometimes discovered to the eye, as it appears in rotten
wood, where the star-fire shines after night.1 As for
minerals, their first matter is coagulated by this fiery spirit
and altered from one complexion to another, to which
may be added this truth for manifestation : if the mineral
principles be artificially dissolved — that their fire and
spirit may be at liberty — even metals themselves may
be made vegetable. This fire or light is nowhere to be
found in such abundance and purity as in that subject
which the Arabians call Halicali , from Hall = Summum
and Calop = rBonum ; but the Latin authors corruptly write
it Sal Alkali. This substance is the catholic receptacle
of spirits. It is blessed and impregnated with light from
above and was therefore styled by the magicians “ a Sealed
House, full of light and divinity.”2

1 Very curious is the intellectual fantasy which describes the phosphor¬
escence of decaying vegetable matter as the Secret Candle of God and
laments that its light is not followed. I think that the Light of Nature in
the middle place of Scholce Magicce Typus had another and higher meaning.

2 It is obvious that this is not true of Sal alkali , but it is not to be
thought that in using this name the alchemists meant what ordinary

267

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

But to proceed in the exposition of our type : not far
from this Lamp you may observe the Angel or Genius
of the place. In one hand he bears a sword, to keep off
the contentious and unworthy ; in the other a clue of
thread, to lead in the humble and harmless. Under the
altar lies the green dragon, or the magician’s Mercury,
involving in itself a treasure of gold and pearl. This
is neither dream nor fancy, but a known, demonstrable,
practical truth. The treasure is there to be found, in¬
finitely rich and real. Indeed we must confess it is
enchanted and that by the very art and magic of the
Almighty God. It can neither be seen nor felt, but the
cabinet that holds it is every day under our feet. On this
treasure sits a little child, with this inscription : Except to
one of these little ones. It tells us how they should be
qualified who desire to be admitted to this place. They
must be innocent and very humble— not impudent, proud
ranters nor covetous, uncharitable misers. They must be
affable, not contentious ; they must love the truth and — to
speak in a homely phrase — they must also, like children and
fools, speak the truth. In a word, they must be as our
Saviour Himself hath said — ulike one of these little ones.”

This is the sum of that magical emblem which Thalia
communicated to me in the mineral region. More 1
cannot say of it, for I was not trusted with more in rela¬
tion to a public and popular use. I will now proceed to a
discovery of some other mysteries which I received from
her — and those such as are not commonly sought after.
The basis of them all is the visible, tangible quintessence,1

chemistry signifies thereby, and they were not concealing their real
subject more completely than Thomas Vaughan or his authorities under
the denomination of Halicali. The Hermetic lexicons give the following
meanings, s.v. Sal alkali : (i) The Magistery of the Wise, understood
as the basis of all bodies ; (2) Oil of Philosophers ; (3) Salt of Wisdom.
Pernety warns his readers against preparations of common sodium and
Basil Valentine against those of plants, which is a dead salt.

1 Vaughan is here using a term of the alchemists which he has con¬
demned previously: see p. 25. Moreover, his “first created unity”
cannot be a quintessence in any rational use of words.

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Lumen de Lumine

or the first created unity, out of which the physical
tetractys 1 did spring. I shall speak of them not in a
cast, artificial discourse and method, but in their own
natural, harmonical order, and first of all of the First
Matter.

III. — The First Matter

When 1 seriously consider the system or fabric of this
world I find it to be a certain series, a link or chain which
is extended from unconditioned to unconditioned,2 from
that which is beneath all apprehension to that which is
above all apprehension. That which is beneath all
degrees of sense is a certain horrible, inexpressible dark¬
ness. The magicians call it active darkness,3 and the
effect of it in Nature is cold, etc. For darkness is the
visage of cold — the complexion, body and matrix of cold
— as light is the face, principle and fountain of heat.
That which is above all degree of intelligence is a certain
infinite, inaccessible fire or light. Dionysius calls it
Divine Darkness,4 5 because it is invisible and incompre¬
hensible. The Jew styles it Ayinb — but in a relative
sense or, as the schoolmen express it, “ in respect of us.”6
In plain terms, it is unveiled Deity apart from all vesture.7
The middle substance or chain between these two is that
which we commonly call Nature. This is the Scala of
the great Chaldee which doth reach from the subternatural
darkness to the supernatural fire.8 These middle natures
came out of a certain water, which was the sperm or First

1 The physical tetractys signifies the four elements, and these meant
many things for Vaughan and his precursors.

2 A non gradu ad non graditm. My rendering must stand at its value.
It may be called alchemical, a translation which is not a translation.

3 Tenebrce actives.

4 Caligo Divina — about which compare ante , p. 214, s.v. Nihil Divinum.

5 See ante , p. 216. Vaughan gives the Hebrew, of which his printers
made nonsense and he sought to rectify in the list of errata , but they
made bad worse. The word is ?*#•

6 Quo ad nos. ' Deltas nuda , sine mdumento.

8 A Tartaro ad primutn igntm.

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Matter of the great world. And now we will begin to
describe it : Let him receive who can.1

It is in plain terms cc dissolved and flowing water,” 2 or
rather it is something melted,3 that is a solution of earth,
a certain plasticity of earth,4 an exceedingly soft, moist,
fusible, flowing earth — an earth of wax that is capable
of all forms and impressions. It is Son of the Earth,
mixed with Water,5 and — to speak as the nature of the
thing requires — mixed earth and marriage of earth.6 The
learned alchemist defines it as divine and living silver, an
union of spirit in matter.7 It is a divine, animated mass,
of complexion somewhat like silver, the union of masculine
and feminine spirits, the quintessence of four, the ternary
of two and the tetract of one.8 These are his generations,
physical and metaphysical. The thing itself is a world
without form, neither mere power nor perfect action, but
a weak virgin substance, a certain soft, prolific Venus,
the very love and seed, the mixture and moisture of
heaven and earth. This moisture is the mother of all
things in the world ; and the masculine, sulphureous
fire of the earth is their father. Now the Jews — who
without controversy were the wisest of nations — when
they discourse of the generation of metals tell us it is
performed in this manner. The Mercury or mineral
liquor — say they — is altogether cold and passive, and it
lies in certain earthy, subterraneous caverns.9 But when

1 Capiat qui capere potest. 2 xbrbr kcu p vrbr tibcop.

3 *H xvrb‘ 4 Fcua xvP-ar^VS, na\ rb xeio-erat rr/s yrjs.

5 Terrce Filias aqud mixtus. YZpap.tr os yrjyertrris.

6 Tewp.iyris, Kai yrj s ydpos.

7 &€?ov apyvpior faTiKbr, trooais r&r irrev/iaToov er crSi[xa.

8 Compare what is said in a certain short appendix to the Twelve
Keys of Basil Valentine : “ The Stone is composed of one, two, three,
four and five, being (5) the quintessence of its proper substance, (4) the
four elements, (3) the three principles of all things, (2) the dual mercurial
substance, and (1) that first essence produced from the primal Fiat.

9 According to Aesh Mezareph, which is the only purely Jewish and
Kabalistic tract on alchemy with which I am acquainted, Mercury is the
foundation of all Nature and the art of metals. A particular Mercury is,
however, required for the work, and it is called “a Fountain of Living
Water.” There is nothing in the extant fragments of this tract which

270

Lumen de Lumine

the sun ascends in the East his beams and heat, falling
on this hemisphere, stir up and fortify the inward heat
of the earth. Thus we see in winter weather that the
outward heat of the sun excites the inward, natural
warmth of our bodies and cherisheth the blood when it
is almost cold and frozen. Now then, the central heat
of the earth, being stirred and seconded by the circum¬
ferential heat of the sun, works upon the Mercury and
sublimes it in a thin vapour to the top of its cell or
cavern. But towards night, when the sun sets in the
West, the heat of the earth — because of the absence of
that great luminary — grows weak and the cold prevails,
so that the vapours of the Mercury, which were formerly
sublimed, are now condensed and distil in drops to the
bottom of their cavern. But the night being spent, the
sun again comes about to the East and sublimes the
moisture as formerly. This sublimation and condensation
continue so long till the Mercury takes up the subtle,
sulphureous parts of the earth and is incorporated there¬
with, so that this sulphur coagulates the Mercury and
fixes him at last, that he will not sublime but lies still in
a ponderous lump and is concocted to a perfect metal.

Take notice then that our Mercury cannot be co¬
agulated without our sulphur, for “ the Dragon dieth not
apart from his fellow.” 1 It is water that dissolves and
putrefies earth, and earth that thickens and putrefies
water. You must therefore take two principles to pro¬
duce a third agent, according to that dark receipt of Hali
the Arabian. “ Take” — saith he — the Corascene dog and
the bitch of Armenia. Put them both together and they
will bring thee a sky-coloured whelp.” 9 This sky-
coloured whelp is that sovereign, admired and famous

corresponds to the statement in the text, so that Vaughan drew from
another source which I am not able to identify.

1 Draco non moritur sine suo compare.

2 Accipe canem masculum Corascenum et catellam Armenice : conjunge ,
et parient tibi catulum coloris coeli. The Armenian dog sometimes stands
for Sulphur, or the male seed of the Stone. — Pernety.

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Mercury known by the name of the ' philosopher’s
Mercury. Now, for my part, I advise thee to take two
living Mercuries ; plant them in a purified, mineral Saturn ;
wash them and feed them with water of salt vegetable ;
and thou shalt see that speech of the Adeptus verified :
“ The mother shall bring forth a budding flower, which
she will nurture at her own milky breast and, being helped
by the father, will turn herself into food for it utterly.” 1
But the process or receipt is no part of my design, where¬
fore I will return to the First Matter ; and I say it is no
kind of water whatsoever. Reader, if it be thy desire to
attain to the truth, rely upon my words, for I speak
the truth, and I am no deceiver. The mother or First
Matter of metals is a certain watery substance, neither
very water nor very earth, but a third thing com¬
pounded of both and retaining the complexion of neither.
To this agrees the learned Valentine in his apposite and
genuine description of our sperm. “ The First Matter ” —
saith he — “ is a waterish substance found dry, or of such
a complexion that wets not the hand — and nothing like
to any other matter whatsoever ” 2 Another excellent
and well-experienced philosopher defines it thus. “ It is ”
— saith he — cc an earthy water and a watery earth, mingled
with earth in the belly of the earth ; and the spirit and
influences of heaven commix themselves therewith.”3
Indeed it cannot be denied but some authors have named
this substance by the names of all ordinary waters, not to
deceive the simple but to hide it from the ranting, ill-
disposed crew. On the contrary, some have expressly
and faithfully informed us it is no common water, and
especially the reverend Turba. u The ignorant ” — saith
Agadmon — “ when they hear us name water, think it is

1 Mater florem germinalem , quem ubero suo viscoso nutriet , et se totam

ei in cibum vertet, fovente patre.

3 Materia prima est aquosa substantia , sicca repeta et nulli material
comparabilis.

3 Est terrena aqua et aquosa terra, in terrce ventre terra commixta ,
cum qua se commiscet spiritus et ccelestis influxus.

2J2

Lumen de Lumine

water of the clouds ; but if they understood our books they
should know it to be a permanent or fixed water which,
without its companion — to which it hath been united
— cannot be permanent.” 1 The noble and knowing
Sendivogius tells us the very same thing : <c Our water is
a heavenly water, which wets not the hand, not that of
the common man but almost, or as it were, pluvial.” 2
We must therefore consider the several analogies and
similitudes of things, or we shall never be able to under¬
stand the philosophers.

This Water then wets not the hand, which is notion
enough to persuade us it can be no common water. It
is a metalline, bitter, saltish liquor. It hath a true mineral
complexion. “ It hath” — saith Raymund Lully — cc the
likeness of the sun and moon, and in such water it hath
appeared to us, not in spring or rain water.” 3 But in
another place he describes it more fully. “ It is a dry
water, not water of the clouds or phlegmatic water, but a
choleric water, more hot than fire.” 4 It is, moreover,
greenish to the sight, and the same Lully tells you so.
“It looks ” — saith he — “like a green lizard.” 5 But the
most prevalent colour in it is a certain inexpressible azure,
like the body of heaven in a clear day. It looks in truth
like the belly of a snake, especially near the neck, where
the scales have a deep blue tincture ; and this is why the
philosophers called it their serpent and their dragon. The
predominant element in it is a certain fiery, subtle earth,
and from this prevalent part the best philosophers have
denominated the whole compound. Paracelsus names it

1 Ignari cum audiunt no men aquce putant aquam nubis esse , quod si
libros ?iostros intelligerent , scirent esse aquam permanentem, qua; absque
suo compari cum quo facta est unum permanens esse non possit.

2 Aqua nostra est aqua ccelestis , non madefaciens mantis, non vulgi , sed
fere pluvialis.

3 Habet speciem solis et twice, et in tali aqud nobis apparuit, non in
aqua fontis aut pluvice.

4 Aqua sicca, non aqua nubis aut phlegmatica, sed aqua cholerica, igne
calidior.

5 Habet colorem lacertce viridis.

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openly but in one place, and he calls it viscum terr<e , the
slime or viscous part of the earth.1 Raymund Lully de-
scribeth the crisis or constitution of it in these words :
“ The substance of our Stone ” — saith he — “ is altogether
fat or viscous and impregnated with fire ” 2 — in which
respect he calls it elsewhere “not water but earth.” “ Take
our earth”- — saith he — “which is impregnated or with child
by the sun ; for it is our precious Stone which is found in
desolate houses, and there is shut up in it a great secret
and a treasure enchanted.” 3 And again, in a certain place,
he delivers himself thus : “ My son ” — saith he — “ the
First Matter is a subtle, sulphureous earth, and this noble
earth is called the mercurial subject.”4 Know then for
certain that this slimy, moist sperm or earth must be dis¬
solved into water, and this is the Water of the Philosophers
— not any common water whatsoever. This is the grand
secret of the Art, and Lully discovers it with a great deal
of honesty and charity. “Our Mercury” — saith he — “is
not common Mercury or quicksilver. But our Mercury
is a water which cannot be found on earth, for it is not
made or manifested by the ordinary course of Nature, but
by the art and manual operations of man.”6 Seek not
then for that in Nature which is an effect beyond her
ordinary process. You must help her, that she may ex¬
ceed her common course, or all is to no purpose. In a

1 See De Naturalibus Aquis, Lib. iii : De Viscosis Aquis ; but
there is nothing to the purpose of alchemy and nothing corresponding
to Vaughan’s thesis.

2 Substantia lapidis nostri est tota pinguis, et igne impregnata.

3 Capias terrain nostram impregnatam a sole , quia lapis est honoratus ,
repertus in hospitiis desertis , et est intus inclusum velut magnum secretum
et thesaurus incantaius.

4 Prima materia , Filii , est terra subtilis sulphur ea, et hcec nobilis terra
dictum est subjectum mercuriale.

5 Argentum vivum nostrum non est argentum vivum vulgare : imo
argentum vivum nostrum est aqua alterius natures , quee reperiri non
Potest supra terrain , cum in actionem venire non possit per naturam ,
absque adjutoiio ingenii et humanarum manuum operationibus. This
is an important statement ; but after what manner does that which is not
found on earth and is not brought into activity by Nature become subject
to the hands of man and to his skill?

274

Lumen de Lumme

word, you must make this water before you can find it.
In the interim you must permit the philosophers to call
their subject or chaos a water, for there is no proper name
for it — unless we call it a sperm, which is a watery sub¬
stance but certainly no water. Let it suffice that you are
not cheated, for they tell you what it is and what it is not,
which is all that man can do. If I ask you by what name
you call the sperm of a chick you will tell me it is the
white of an egg, and truly so is the shell as well as the
sperm that is within it. But if you call it earth or water,
you know well enough it is neither ; and yet you cannot
find a third name. Judge then as you would be judged,
for this is the very case of the philosophers. Certainly
you must be very unreasonable if you expect that language
from men which God hath not given them.1

Now that we may confirm this our theory and discourse
of the sperm not only by experience but by reason, it is
necessary that we consider the qualities and temperament
of the sperm. It is then a slimy, slippery, diffusive
moisture. But if we consider any perfect products, they
are firm, compacted, figurated bodies ; and hence it follows
they must be made of something that is not firm, not
compacted, not figurated, but a weak, quivering, altering
substance. Questionless thus it must be, unless we make
the sperm to be of the same complexion with the body ;
and then it must follow that generation is no alteration.
Again, it is evident to all the world that nothing is so
passive as moisture. The least heat turns water to a
vapour and the least cold turns that vapour to water.
Now let us consider what degree of heat it is that acts in
all generations, for by the agent we may guess at the

1 The argument is of course stultifying. Vaughan could not describe
an egg accurately because he was not acquainted with its real constituents.
The incapacity was through want of knowledge, since acquired, not because
the question was ineffable. And so in metaphysical subjects language is
always given to the clear thinker but fails with him who is confused.
That which cannot be communicated is the living nature of an experience
to those who have not shared it.

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nature of the patient. We know the sun is so remote
from us that the heat of it — as daily experience tells us —
is very faint and remiss. I desire then to know what
subject is there in all Nature that can be altered with such
a weak heat but moisture ? Certainly none at all ; for
all hard bodies — as salts, stones and metals — preserve and
retain their complexions in the most violent, excessive
fires. How then can we expect they should be altered by
a gentle and almost insensible warmth ? It is plain then
— and that by infallible inference from the proportion and
power of the agent — that moisture must needs be the
patient. For that degree of heat which Nature makes
use of in her generations is so remiss and weak it is im¬
possible for it to alter anything but what is moist and
waterish. This truth appears in the animal family, where
we know well enough the sperms are moist. Indeed in
vegetables the seeds are dry, but then Nature generates
nothing out of them till they are first macerated or
moistened with water. And here, my Peripatetic, thou
art quite gone and with thee thy pure potency,1 that
fanatic chaos of the son of Nichomachus.

But I must advise my chemists to beware of any
common moisture, for that will never be altered otherwise
than to a vapour. See therefore that thy moisture be
well tempered with earth ; otherwise thou hast nothing
to dissolve and nothing to coagulate. Remember the
practice and magic of Almighty God in His creation, as
it is manifested to thee by Moses. “ In the beginning ”
— saith he — u God created heaven and earth.” 2 But the
original — if it be truly and rationally rendered — speaks
thus : <c In the beginning God mingled or tempered
together the thin and the thick.”3 For heaven and earth

1 Para potentia.

2 Inprincipio creavit Deus ccelum et terrain. Vaughan uses the Vulgate.

3 The supposed emendation is foolish, supposing that it were admissible
— as it is certainly not. The words heaven and earth — ccelum et terra —
of themselves denote tenuity and spissitude, so that we are carried no
further by reading : In principio Deus miscuit rarum et densum.

276

Lumen de Lumine

in this text — as we have told you in our Anima Magica
— signify the Virgin Mercury and the Virgin Sulphur.
This I will prove out of the text itself, and that by the
vulgar, received translation, which runs thus : “ In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And
the earth was without form and void ; and darkness was
upon the face of the abyss. And the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters.” In the first part of this
text Moses mentions two created principles — not a perfect
world, as we shall prove hereafter — and this he doth in
these general terms, heaven and earth. In the latter part
of it he describes each of these principles in more par¬
ticular terms, and he begins with the earth. “ And the
earth ” — saith he — “ was without form and void.” Hence
I infer that the earth he speaks of was a mere rudiment
or principle of this earth which 1 now see ; for this present
earth is neither void nor without form. I conclude then
that the Mosaical earth was the Virgin Sulphur, which is
an earth without form, for it hath no determinated figure.
It is a laxative, unstable, incomposed substance, of a porous,
empty crasis , like sponge or soot. In a word, I have seen it,
but it is impossible to describe it.1 After this he proceeds
to the description of his heaven or second principle in
these subsequent words : “ And darkness was upon the
face of the abyss. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters.” Here he calls that an abyss and
waters which he formerly called heaven.2 It was indeed
the heavenly moisture or water of the chaos, out of which

1 It is desirable to note that Vaughan testifies to having seen something
— probably in one of his chemical experiments — which he believed was
the Mosaical Earth, or one of the three principles. The fact that he
cannot describe it proves that he was ignorant of its constitution and had
therefore no warrant for the claim which he prefers concerning it. I hold
to his perfect sincerity, but he was mistaken — doubtless like many others
before him.

2 Nothing of the kind follows from the first words of Genesis, accord¬
ing to which original creation consisted of (i) heaven, (2) earth, (3) water.
Vaughan’s identification of heaven and water arises in the fact that the
first sentence of Genesis specifies the creation of two things, while the
second sentence introduces a third.

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The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

the separated heaven or habitation of the stars was after¬
wards made. This is clear out of the original, for =
Hamaim and rrftttn = Hashamaim are the same words,
like Aqua and Ibi Aqua , and they signify one and the same
substance, namely, water. The text then being rendered
according to the primitive natural truth and the undoubted
sense of the author speaks thus : “ In the beginning ” — or,
according to the Jerusalem Targum, in wisdom — “God
made the water and the earth. And the earth was with¬
out form and void ; and there was darkness upon the face
of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the waters.” Here you should observe that God
created two principles, earth and water, and of these two
He compounded a third, namely, the sperm or chaos.1
Upon the water — or moist part of this sperm — the Spirit
of God did move ; and — saith the Scripture — “ there was
darkness upon the face of the deep.” This is a very
great secret ; neither is it lawful to publish it expressly
and as the nature of the thing requires ; but in the magical
work it is to be seen, and 1 have been an eye-witness of
it myself.2

To conclude : remember that our subject is no common
water, but a thick, slimy, fat earth. This earth must be
dissolved into water and that water must be coagulated
again into earth. This is done by a certain natural agent
which the philosophers call their Secret Fire. For if you
work with common fire it will dry your sperm and bring
it to an unprofitable red dust, of the colour of wild poppy.
Their Fire then is the Key of the Art, for it is a natural
agent but acts not naturally without the sun. I must
confess it is a knotty mystery ; but we shall make it plain,

1 This does not follow from the text. The chaos was a state of the
earth originally, not a thing made separately. It is said simply that “the
earth was without form and void.”

2 Vaughan saw the primeval water as well as the primeval earth.
Fortunately he does not add that he saw the chaos as something separate
from these. As to the third principle, being that which is called Salt
figuratively, he does not claim a similar experience.

278

Lumen de Lumine

if you be not very dim and dull. It requires indeed a
quick, clear apprehension ; and therefore, Readers : SnufF
your candles.

IV. — The Philosophical Fire

Fire — notwithstanding the diversities of it in this sub¬
lunary kitchen of the elements— is but one thing from
one root. The effects of it are various, according to the
distance and nature of the subject wherein it resides, for
that makes it vital or violent. It sleeps in most things —
as in flints, where it is silent and invisible. It is a kind
of perdue , lies close like a spider in the cabinet of his
web, to surprise all that comes within his lines. He
never appears without his prey in his foot. Where he
finds aught that’s combustible there he discovers himself ;
for if we speak properly, he is not generated but mani¬
fested. Some men are of opinion that he breeds nothing
but devours all things and is therefore called “ as it were,
inbreeding fire.” 1 This is a grammatical whim, for there
is nothing in the world generated without fire. What
a fine philosopher then was Aristotle, who tells us this
agent breeds nothing but his pryausta — -a certain fly which
he found in his candle but could never be seen afterwards.2
Indeed too much heat burns and destroys ; and if we
descend to other natures, too much water drowns, too
much earth buries and chokes the seed, that it cannot
come up. And verily at this rate there is nothing in
the world that generates. What an owl was he then that
could not distinguish, with all his logic, between excess
and measure, between violent and vital degrees of heat,
but concluded the fire did breed nothing because it con¬
sumed something. But let the mule pass, for so Plato
called him, and let us prosecute our Secret Fire. This

1 Ignis quasi ingignens — ingignens being used in the opposite sense to
gignens.

2 ndpavarTTjs means any fly which burns its wings in lamp or candle and
so perishes.

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Fire is at the root and about the root — I mean, about
the centre — of all things, both visible and invisible. It
is in water, earth and air ; it is in minerals, herbs and
beasts ; it is in men, stars and angels. But originally
it is in God Himself, for He is the Fountain of heat
and fire, and from Him it is derived to the rest of the
creatures in a certain stream or sunshine. Now the
magicians afford us but two notions whereby we may
know their fire. It is — as they describe it — moist and
invisible. Hence have they called it the horse’s belly
and horse-dung1 — a moist heat but no fire that is visible.
Now let us compare the common Vulcan with this philo¬
sophical Vesta, that we may see wherein they are different.
First of all, the philosopher’s Fire is moist, and truly so
is that of the kitchen too. We see that flames contract
and extend themselves ; now they are short, now they
are long, which cannot be without moisture to maintain
the flux and continuity of their parts. I know Aristotle
makes the fire to be simply dry, perhaps because the
effects of it are so. He did not indeed consider that
in all complexions there are other qualities besides the
predominant one. Sure then this dry stuff is that ele¬
ment of his wherein he found his pyrausta. But if our
natural fire were simply dry the flames of it could not
flow and diffuse themselves as they do : they would rather
fall to dust or turn, like their fuel, to ashes.

But that I may return to my former discourse : I say
the common fire is excessively hot, but moist in a far
inferior degree, and therefore destructive — for it preys
on the moisture of other things. On the contrary, the
warmth and moisture of the magical agent are equal ;
the one temperates and satisfies the other. It is a humid,

1 Venter equi and Fimus equinus are familiar symbols of the moderated
heat which developed the potencies within the alchemical substances.
These were the way of life and its nourishment, while the work of a
violent fire was the way of death. There are analogies in the spiritual
world, notwithstanding consuming ardours and fiery soliloquies of the
soul with God.

280

Lumen de Lumine

tepid fire or — as we commonly express ourselves — blood-
warm. This is their first and greatest difference in
relation to our desired effect : we will now consider their
second. The kitchen fire — as we all know — is visible
but the philosopher’s fire is invisible, and therefore no
kitchen fire. This Almadir 1 expressly tells us in these
words : “ Our work ” — saith he — “ can be performed by
nothing but by the invisible beams of our fire.” And
again : “ Our fire is a corrosive fire which brings a cloud
about our glass or vessel, in which cloud the beams of
our fire are hidden.”2 To be short: the philosophers
call this agent their bath, because it is moist as baths
are ; but in very truth it is no kind of bath — neither of
the sea nor of dew,3 but a most subtle fire and purely
natural ; but the excitation of it is artificial. This excita¬
tion or preparation — as I have told thee in my Coslum
Terra — is a very trivial, slight, ridiculous thing. Never¬
theless all the secrets of corruption and generation are
therein contained. Lastly, I think it just to inform thee
that many authors have falsely described this fire and
that of purpose, to seduce their readers. For my own
part I have neither added nor diminished. Thou hast
here the true, entire secret, in which all the easterns
agree — Alfid, Almadir, Belen, Gieberim, Hali, Sal¬
manazar and Zadich, with the three famous Jews,
Abraham, Artephius and Kalid.4 If thou dost not by this

1 Vaughan had access to some exceedingly rare texts. As in a previous
case, I am unable to report anything concerning Almadir. He is not in
the Byzantine, Arabic or Syriac collections ; he is not included among
the Wise Masters of the Turba or mentioned in the developments there¬
from, nor is there a word concerning him in du Fresnoy’s Bibliography.

2 Ignis noster corrosivus est ignis , qui supra nostrum vas ?iubem obducit ,
in qua nube radii hujus ignis occulti sunt.

3 The Balneum Maris and Balneum Boris are prescribed frequently
in the texts, the former more especially.

4 I am unable to identify Alfid or Belen, but the latter must be dis¬
tinguished from Albert Belin, to whom is attributed a French Hermetic
romance entitled Avantures DU Philosophe Inconnu, published in
1646. Gieberim is of course Geber ; Salmanazar or Salmanar, an Arab,
wrote four treatises ; Zadich or Zadith was the author of Aurelia
Occulta. With the others we have made acquaintance previously.

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The JVi orks of Thomas Vaughait

time apprehend it thou art past my care, for I may tell
thee no more of it : 1 may only teach thee how to use it.

Take our two Serpents,1 which are to be found every¬
where on the face of the earth. They are a living male
and a living female. Tie them both in a love-knot and
shut them up in the Arabian Caraha .2 This is thy first
labour, but thy next is more difficult. Thou must
encamp against them with the fire of Nature, and be sure
thou dost bring thy line round about. Circle them in
and stop all avenues, that they find no relief. Continue
this siege patiently ; and they will turn to an ugly,
shabby, venomous, black toad, which will be transformed
to a horrible devouring Dragon — creeping and weltering
in the bottom of her cave, without wings. Touch her
not by any means, not so much as with thy hands, for
there is not upon earth such a violent, transcendent
poison. As thou hast begun so proceed, and this Dragon
will turn to a Swan, but more white than the hovering
virgin snow when it is not yet sullied with the earth.
Henceforth 1 will allow thee to fortify thy fire till the
Phoenix appears. It is a red bird of a most deep colour,
with a shining, fiery hue. Feed this bird with the fire
of his father and the ether of his mother ; for the first
is meat, the second is drink, and without this last he
attains not to his full glory. Be sure to understand this
secret, for fire feeds not well unless it be first fed. It is
of itself dry and choleric ; but a proper moisture tempers
it, gives it a heavenly complexion and brings it to the
desired exaltation. Feed thy bird then as I have told
thee, and he will move in his nest and rise like a
star of the firmament. Do this and thou hast placed
Nature “within the horizon of eternity.”3 Thou hast
performed that command of the Kabalist : cc Unite the
end to the beginning, like a flame to a coal ; for God ” —

1 Compare the twin Serpents on the Caduceus.

2 I do not find this word in the lexicons or in the Arabian alchemists.

3 In hovizonte <zternitatis.

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Lumen de Lumine

saith he — “ is superlatively one and He hath no second.”1
Consider then what you seek : you seek an indissoluble,
miraculous, transmuting, uniting union ; but such a tie
cannot be without the First Unity. “To create” —
saith one — “ and transmute essentially and naturally, or
without any violence, is the only proper office of the
first Power, the first Wisdom and the first Love.”2
Without this love the elements will never be married ;
they will never inwardly and essentially unite, which is
the end and perfection of magic. Study then to under¬
stand this, and when thou hast performed I will allow
thee that test of the Mekkubalim : “ Thou hast under¬
stood in wisdom, and thou hast been wise in understand¬
ing ; thou hast established this subject upon the pure
elements thereof, and thou hast posited the Creator on
His throne.” 3

For a close to this section, I say it is impossible to
generate in the patient without a vital, generating agent.
This agent is the philosophical fire, a certain moist,
heavenly, invisible heat. But let us hear Raymund
Lully describe it : 4 “ When we say the Stone is

generated by fire, men neither see, neither do they
believe there is any other fire but the common fire, nor

1 Fige finem in principio , sicut flammam prunes conjunctam , quia
Dominus superlative unus et non tenet secundum.

2 Creare e7iim atque intrinsecus transmutare absque violentid , munus
est proprium duntaxat Pri?nce Poteiitice , Primes Sapienties , Pruni
A moris.

3 Intellexisti in sapientiam et sapuisti in intelligentia ; statuisti rem
super puritates suas, et Creator em in Throno Suo collocasti.

4 Quando dicimus quod lapis per ignem generatur , non vident alium
ignem , nec alium ignem credunt , nisi ignem communemj nec aliud
Sulphur , nec aliud argentum vivum , nisi sit vulgare. Ideo manent
decepti per eorum cescas estimationes , inferentes quod causa sumus sues
deceptionis et quod dedimus illis intelligere rem unam pro alia. Sed non
est verum salvd eorum pace , sicut probabimus per ilia ques philosophi
posuerunt in scriptis. Solem enim appellamus ignem, et vicarium suum
vocamus calorem naturalem. Nam illud quod agit calor solis in ?nineris
metallorum per mille annos , ipse calor naturalis facit in una hora supra
ten'am. Nos vero et multi alii vocamus eicm Filium Solis , nam primo
per solis infiuentiam fuit generalus per naturam, sive adjutorium scientics ,
vel artis.

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any other Sulphur and Mercury but the common Sulphur
and Mercury. Thus are they deceived by their own
opinions, saying that we are the cause of their error,
having made them to mistake one thing for another.
But— by their leave — it is not so, as we shall prove by
the doctrine of the philosophers. For we call the sun a
fire and the natural heat we call his substitute or deputy.
For that which the heat of the sun performs in a thousand
years in the mines, the heat of Nature performs it
above the earth in one hour. But we and many other
philosophers have called this heat the Child of the Sun,
for at first it was generated naturally by the influence of
the sun without the help of our Art or knowledge.”
Thus Lully : but one thing I must tell thee and be sure,
Reader, thou dost remember it. This very natural heat
must be applied in the just degree and not too much
fortified ; for the sun itself doth not generate but burn
and scorch where it is too hot. “ If thou shalt work
with too strong a fire saith the same Lully — “ the
propriety of our spirit, which is indifferent as yet to life
or death, will separate itself from the body, and the soul
will depart to the region of her own sphere.” 1 Take
therefore along with thee this short but wholesome advice
of the same author : “ My son ” — saith he — “ let the
heavenly power or agent be such in the place of genera¬
tion or mutation that it may alter the spermatic humidity
from its earthly complexion to a most fine, transparent
form or species.” 2

See here now the solution of the slimy, fat earth to a
transparent, glorious Mercury. This Mercury, Gentle¬
men, is the water which we look after — but not any
common water whatsoever. There is nothing now behind

1 Si cum igne magno operatus fueris proprietas nostri spiritus , qua
inter vitam et mortem participate separabit se et anima recedet in regionem
sphara sua.

2 Facias ergo , Fili , quod in loco generationis aut co?iversio?iis sit talis
■botentia ccelestis quce possit transformare humidum ex natura terrestri ,
in formam et speciem transparentem et finissimam.

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but that which the philosophers call the Secret of the
Art,1 a thing that was never published and without which
you will never perform, though you know both fire and
matter.2 An instance hereof we have in Flamel, who
knew the Matter well enough and had both fire and
furnace painted to him by Abraham the Jew ; but not¬
withstanding he erred for three years because he knew
not the third secret.3 Henry Madathan, a most noble
philosopher, practised upon the subject for five years
together but knew not the right method and therefore
found nothing. At last — saith he — <c after the sixth year
I was entrusted with the Key of Power by secret revela¬
tion from the Almighty God.” 4 This Key of Power or
third secret was never put to paper by any philosopher
whatsoever. Paracelsus indeed hath touched upon it,
but so obscurely it is no more to the purpose than if he
had said nothing.

And now I suppose I have done enough for the dis¬
covery and regimen of the Fire. If you think it too little,
it is much more than any one author hath performed.
Search it then, for he that finds this Fire will attain to
the true temperament ; he will make a noble, deserving
philosopher and — to speak in the phrase of our Spaniard
— “ he shall be worthy to take a seat at the table of the
twelve peers.” 5

V.— T he River of Pearl6

It is a decomposed substance, extreme heavy and moist
but wets not the hand. It shines after night like a star

1 Secretum Artis.

2 A statement of this kind is common in alchemical books, though it is
not always put so plainly. In such case the question arises as to the
use of any such books as have been written by Vaughan and others.

3 According to the confession of Flamel.

4 Post sextum annum clavis potentice per arcanam revelationem ab
omnipotente Deo mihi concredita est.

5 Dignus erit poni ad 7nensam duodecim parium.

6 The treatise of Bonus under the titles Margarita Novella,
Margarita Pretiosa Novella and Introductio in Artem

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and will enlighten any dark room. It is full of small
eyes, sparkling like pearls or aiglets. It is the whole
Demogorgon but now actually animated by manifestation
of his own inward light. The father of it is a certain
inviolable mass, for the parts of it are so firmly united
you can neither pound them into dust nor separate them
by violence of fire. This is the Stone of the Philosophers.
“ It is compassed about ” — saith one — cc with darkness,
clouds and blackness. It dwells in the inmost bowels
of the earth. But when he is born he is clothed with a
certain green mantle and sprinkled over with a certain
moisture. He is not properly generated by any natural
thing, but he is eternal and the father of all things.” 1
This description is very true and apposite but enigmatical :
howsoever, forget not the green mantle. This is that
substance which Gieberim - Eben - Haen — or, as the
rabble writes him, Geber — calls “ the Stone known in
high places ” 2 — a very subtle expression, but if well
examined it is the key to his whole book and to the
writings of the old philosophers in general. But let us
return to our River of Pearl, and — for our further infor¬
mation — let us hear it described by a most excellent
adeptusy and that in the very act of flowing forth,3 before
the full moon appears. Here we have portrayed unto
us the whole philosophical laboratory, furnace, fire and
matter, with the mysterious germinations thereof. But
because the terms are difficult and not to be understood
by any but such as have seen the thing itself I will for
the reader’s benefit — I cannot say, satisfaction — put them
into English.

Divinam Alchimi^e is of consequence in Hermetic literature, but the
pearl as an alchemical symbol occurs rarely. It was attributed to the
vernal dew as distinguished from that of autumn, the varieties being
regarded as female and male respectively.

1 Qui ab o?)ini parte circumdatus est tenebris , nebulis , caligine. Habitat
in mediis terrce visceribus , qui ubi natus fuerit vestitur quodam viridi
j 'pallio , humiditate quadam aspersus et non prognatus ab aliquo , sed
ceternus et parens omnium rerum .

2 Lapis in capitulis notus. 3 ’E£c iv0r)(ris.

286

Lumen de Lumine

“ This is the work ” 1 — saith he — “ which I have some¬
times seen with a singular and a most dear friend, who
shewed to me certain large furnaces and those crowned
with cornues of glass. The vessels were several, having
— besides their tripods — their sediments or caskets, and
within them was a Holy Oblation, or present dedicated to
the Ternary. But why should I any longer conceal so
divine a thing ? Within this fabric was a certain mass
moving circularly, or driven round about, and represent¬
ing the very figure of the great world. For here the
earth was to be seen standing of itself in the midst of all,
compassed about with most clear waters, rising up to
several hillocks and craggy rocks, and bearing many
sorts of fruit — as if it had been watered with showers
from the moist air. It seemed also to be very fruitful
for wine, oil and milk, with all kinds of precious stones
and metals. The waters themselves — like those of the
sea — were full of a certain transparent salt, now white,
now red, then yellow and purpled, and — as it were—
chamletted with various colours, which did swell up to
the face of the waters. All these things were actuated or

1 Hoc opus est quod mihi aliquando ob oculis po suit unicus exechedistes
magnets quippe fornaces , atque vitro easdem varico redimitas ostendens .
Vasa erant singula , in suis sedilibus habentia sedimenta atque interius
dispari dicatum , sacrumque munus. Quid vero re?n tam Divinatn celem
diutius ? Erat intus circumacta moles queedam , mundi pree se ferens
imaginem ipsissi?ni> Quippe ibi terra videbatur in medio o?nnium con-
sistens , aquisque circumfusa limpidissimis , in varios colies, salebrosasuque
rupes assurgebat , fructum ferens multiplicem , tanquam humentis aeris
imbribus irrigua. Vini etiam videbatur et olei ei lactis atque pretiosorum
omne genus lapidum et metallorum esse apprime ferax. Turn aquee ip see
instar cequoris, sale quodam pellucido , albo inter dum, inter dum quoque rubeo
et fulvo etrubro , multisqueprceterea variegato coloribus inlitce , inque super-
ficiem ipsam cestuabant . Igne autem hcec omnia suo sed impercepto
quidem, atque cethereo movebantur. Id vero unumpree cceteris incredibilem
?ne rapiebat in admirationem. Rem hcec tam multa unicam , tam di versa,
ta?nque in suo genere integra singula, parvo etiam imbecillique adminiculo
producers. Quo facto paulatim robustiore, redirent tandem atque coales-
cerent in unum omnia, co7ifidenter asseverabat. Hie equidem observavi
fusilis illam salis specie?n nihil ab aphrolitho degen erantem , atque argentum
illud vivum cui Mercurii nomen ab hujusce disciplince priscis autho? ibus
inditmn est , illam ipsam referens Lullianam Lunariam, adversa scandens
aqua , noctuque relucens atque inter diu ghitinandi preeditum facultate.

287

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stirred with their own appropriate fire, but in very truth
imperceptible and ethereal. But one thing above the
rest forced me to an incredible admiration — namely, that
so many things, such diverse and in their kind such
perfect particulars should proceed from one only thing,
and that with very small assistance, which being furthered
and strengthened by degrees, the Artist faithfully affirmed
to me that all those diversities would settle at last to one
body. Here I observed that fusil kind of salt to be
nothing different from a pumice-stone, and that quick¬
silver which the ancient authors of this Art called
Mercury to be the same with Lully’s Lunaria ,* whose
water gets up against the fire of Nature and shines by
night, but by day hath a glutinous, viscous faculty.”

This is the sense of our learned Adeptus , and for his
analogy of the Philosophic Salt and a pumice-stone it can¬
not be well conceived without the light of experience.
It is then a porous, hollow, froth-like, spongious salt.
The consistency of it is pumice-like, and neither hard nor
opaceous. It is a thin, slippery, oily substance, in appear¬
ance like mouth-glue but much more clear. Sometimes
it looks like rosials and rubies. Sometimes it is violet
blue, sometimes white as lilies and again more green than
grass, but with a smaragdine transparency ; and some¬
times it looks like burnished gold and silver. The River
of Pearl hath her name from it, for there it stands like
the sperm of frogs in common water. Sometimes it will
move, and swim to the face of his bath in thin leaves like
wafers, but with a thousand miraculous colours. This is
enough and too much, for I hold it not my duty to insist
upon secrets which are so far from the reader’s inquiry
that I dare say they are beyond his expectation.

1 Lunaria is the plant moon-wort, the sap of which is said to have been
used in love-potions, but Succus Lunarice was also a name of Sophie
Mercury, as we see by the text above. The Moon is another symbolical
term for the same substance, but Eirenaeus Philalethes called it the herb
of Saturn.

288

Lumen de Lumine

VI. — The Ether, or the Air of Paradise1 2

Hitherto I have discoursed of the First Matter and
the Fire of Nature — terms indeed commonly known but
the things signified are seldom understood. I shall now
descend to more abstruse, particular principles, things of
that secrecy and subtlety they are not so much as thought
of, much less inquired after. The common chemist
dreams of gold and transmutations, most noble and
heavenly effects, but the means whereby he would en¬
compass them are worm-eaten, dusty, musty papers.
His study and his noddle are stuffed with old receipts ;
he can tell us a hundred stories of brimstone and quick¬
silver, with many miraculous legends of arsenic and
antimony, sal gemm sal pruriee^ sal petrx 2 and other
stupendous alkalies, as he loves to call them. With such
strange notions and charms does he amaze and silence
his auditors, as bats are killed with thunder at the ear.
Indeed if this noise will carry it, let him alone : he can
want no artillery. But if you bring him to the field
and force him to his polemics, if you demand his reason
and reject his recipe, you have laid him as flat as a
flounder. A rational, methodical dispute will undo him,
for he studies not the whole body of philosophy. A
receipt he would find in an old box or an old book, as
if the knowledge of God and Nature were a thing of
chance, not of reason. This idle humour hath not only
surprised the common, illiterate broiler, where in truth

1 A poetic figure on the part of Vaughan himself. When air is used
symbolically by alchemists it is supposed to signify water coagulated by
fire. On the other hand, the alchemical matter in a state of putrefaction —
understood as a stage of the work — is called Breath or Wind, though the
latter name is assigned by Raymund Lully to the Sulphur contained in
Mercury. So also White Wind is called Mercury, Red Wind is Red
Orpiment and Wind from the East is a name of the Stone itself.

2 According to the lexicons Sal gem?ncs is Hungarian Salt — called other¬
wise Sal Nojninis ; Sal prunes seems to be unknown among them ; and
Sal petree does not signify more than its name implies, being ordinary
saltpetre.

289

l9

The IV irks of Th omas V aughan

there is some necessity for it, but even great doctors and
physicians. Bate me the imposthume of their titles and
their learning is not considerable. Hence it comes to
pass that so many men are undone in the prosecution of
this Art. They are so wedded to old scribblings they
will not submit them to their judgment but presently
bring them to the fire. Certainly they believe such
ridiculous impossibilities that even brute beasts — if they
could speak — would reprove them. Sometimes they
mistake their own excrement for that Matter out of
which heaven and earth were made. Hence they drudge
and labour in urine and such filthy, dirty stuff which is
not fit to be named. But when all comes to all and
their custard fails them, they quit their filthiness but not
their error. They think of something that’s more
tractable and dream perhaps that God made the world
of egg-shells or flint-stones. Truly these opinions
proceed not only from simple people but from doctors
forsooth and philosophers. It is therefore my design to
discover some excellences of this art and make it appear
to the student that what is glorious is withal difficult.
This, I suppose, may remove that blind, sluggish
credulity which prevents all ingenious disquisitions and
causes men perhaps to exercise that reason which God
hath given them for discoveries. I shall not dwell long
on any one particular : I am drawing off the stage in all
haste and returning to my first solitudes. My discourse
shall be very short and — like the echo’s last syllables —
imperfect. I intend it only for hint and suggestion to
the reader : it is no full light but a glance, and he must
improve it to his better satisfaction.

We are now to speak of the ether of the little world,1
which is the very same in nature and substance with the
outward ether of the great world. That you may the
better understand what it is we will examine the notion
before we state the thing. Aristotle in his book De

1 Perhaps understood as the spirit within man.

290

Lumen de Lumine

Mundo derives this word from “ ever in movement,”1
because the heavens are in perpetual motion. This is a
general irregular whimsy, for the stars also — as well as
the ether — move perpetually. The sea is subject to a
continual flux and reflux and the blood of all animals to
a restless unwearied pulse. The more ancient philoso¬
phers — whose books this enemy burnt — derived it from
c xivOw = ardeo = I burn, but especially Anaxagoras, who was
better acquainted with heaven than Aristotle, as it appears
by his miraculous prediction and the opinion he had of
that place, namely, that it was his country and that he
was to return thither after death.2 Indeed this last
etymology comes near the nature of the thing, for it is
a healing, cherishing spirit ; but in its genuine com¬
plexion it burns not. I cannot then approve of this
latter derivation, no more than of the former. I rather
believe that ether is a compound of ae* = always, and
Oepco = I become hot, this substance being called aether
from its effect and office, as that which is ever growing
hot. Supposing this to be the true interpretation, let us
now see whether it relates more strictly and properly to
this principle than to any other nature whatsoever. The
ether is a moist, thin, liquid substance, and the region of
it is above the stars, in the circumference of the Divine
Light.3 This is the true and famous empyrean,4 which
receives the influent heat of God, and conveys it to the
visible heaven and all the inferior creatures. It is a pure
essence, a thing not tainted with any material contagion —
in which sense it is styled of Pythagoras “ the free ether,”5
“ because ” — saith Reuchlin — “ it is freed from the prison
of the matter, and being preserved in its liberty it is warm

1 A semper currendo.

2 There is a curious inconsequence in this reasoning, as if an etymology
can be justified by an opinion on the locality of disembodied souls.

3 Vaughan opens this section by saying that he intends to handle deep
things, apparently the question of an identity between the ether in the
cosmos and that of minutum mundiim ; but he forgets the latter entirely.

4 5 Efiirvpaioy . 0 iAtddepos aidijp.

29I

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

with the fire of God and by an insensible motion heats
all the inferior natures.” 1 In a word — because of its
purity — it is placed next to that Divine Fire which the
Jews call Lumen Vestimenti ,2 the Light of the Vestment,
and it is the very first receptacle of the influences and
derivations of the supernatural world — which sufficiently
confirms our etymology.

In the beginning it was generated by reflection of the
First Unity upon the celestial cube, for the bright emana¬
tions of God did flow like a stream into the passive fount,3
and in this analogy the Samian styles Him the Fountain of
perpetual Nature.4 You shall understand that the ether
is not one but manifold, and the reasons of it we shall
give you hereafter. By this I mind not a variety of sub¬
stances but a chain of complexions. There are other
moistures, and those too ethereal. They are females also
of the masculine Divine Fire, and these are the fountains
of the Chaldee, which the oracle styles “ fountain heights,” 5
the invisible upper springs of Nature. Of all substances
that come to our hands, the ether is the first that brings
us news of another world and tells us we live in a corrupt
place. Sendivogius calls it the urine of Saturn, and with
this did he water his lunar and solar plants. “ Out of
my sea” — said the Jew — “do the clouds rise up which bear
the blessed waters, and these irrigate the lands and bring
forth herbs and flowers.”6 In a word, this moisture is ani¬
mated with a vegetable, blessed, divine fire, which made
one describe the mystery thus : “ Out of Nature is it
made, and out of the Divine in like manner : it is truly
Divine, because — conjoined with Divinity — it produces

1 Quo?iiam a materice potentid segregatus et prceservatus in libertate
calescit Dei ardore ac insensibili motn inferiora calefacit.

2 According to the Zohar, this is also the Robe of Glory in which
Neshamah , the higher soul, will be clothed in its highest state.

3 n 77777. 4 Fo?item perpetuce Naturce.

5 Suinmitates fonta?ies.

6 Ex mari meo oriuntur nebulce , quce ferunt aquas benedictas , et ipsce

irrigant terras et educunt herbas et fiores.

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L umen de Lumine

Divine substances/’1 To conclude: the ether is to be
found in the lower spring or fountain,2 namely, in that
substance which the Arabians call “ the flower of white
salt.” 3 It is indeed born of salt, for salt is the root of
it, and it is found withal “ in certain saltish places.” 4 5 The
best discovery of it is this : the philosophers call it their
Mineral Tree, for it grows as all vegetables do, and hath
leaves and fruits in the very hour of its nativity. This is
enough ; and now I pass to another principle.

VII. — The Heavenly Luna6

This Luna is the Moon of the Mine, a very strange,
stupefying substance. It is not simple but mixed. The
ether and a subtle white earth are its components, and
this makes it grosser than the aether itself. It appears in
the form of an exceeding white oil but is in very truth
a certain vegetant, flowing, smooth, soft salt, &c.

VIII. — The Star-Soul

This is the true Star of the Sun,6 the Animal Spiritual
Sun. It is compounded of the ether and a bloody, fiery,
spirited earth. It appears in a gummy consistency but
with a fierce, hot, glowing complexion. It is substantially
a certain purple, animated, divine Salt, &c.

1 Ex Natura et ex Divino factum est. Divinum enim est , quia cum
Divinitate conjunction Divinas Substantias facit.

2 TlrjyT].

3 Flos satis albi. Rulandus says that Flos salis is the Greek Alasanthos.

4 In locis salsosis.

5 In a general sense Luna in alchemical symbolism is argentum , i.e.,
silver, but it stands also for philosophical or sophic Mercury, as we have
seen already. Pernety distinguishes the Hermetic Moon as ( a ) Mercurial
Water and ( b ) the same substance united with its Sulphur and arrived at
the white grade — after passing through that of blackness or putrefaction.
The Heavenly Luna of Vaughan seems to represent his understanding of
sophic Mercury.

e A strum soils.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

IX. — The Prester of Zoroaster1

It is a miracle to consider how the earth, which is a
body of inexpressible weight and heaviness, can be sup¬
ported in the air, a fleeting, yielding substance, and
through which even froth and feathers will sink and
make their way. I hope there is no man so mad as to
think it is poised there by some geometrical knack, for
that were artificial ; but the work of God is vital and
natural. Certainly if the animation of the world be
denied there must needs follow a precipitation of this
element by its own corpulency and gravity. We see that
our own bodies are supported by that essence by which
they are actuated and animated ; but when that essence
leaves them they fall to the ground, till the spirit returns
at the resurrection. I conclude then that the earth hath
in her a fire-soul that bears her up, as the spirit of man
bears up. To this agrees Raymund Lully in the seventy-
sixth chapter of his Theoria. c< The whole earth ” — saith
he — “ is full of intelligence, inclined to the discipline or
operation of Nature, which intelligence is moved by the
Superior Nature, so that the inferior intelligence is like
to the Superior.”2 This spirit or intelligence is the
Prester,3 4 a notion of the admirable Zoroaster, as I find
him rendered by Julian the Chaldean. It comes from
7r pr/Oco = vroy I burn, and signifies lightning, or a certain
burning Turbo* or whirlwind. But in the sense of our
Chaldee it is the fire-spirit of life. It is an influence of
the Almighty God, and it comes from the Land of the

1 npyjar^p is that which burns and inflames. It was the name of a
poisonous serpent, whose sting caused thirst and fever. It signified also
a fiery whirlwind and a pillar of fire. The Oracles speak of a formless
fire, an abyss of flame and its brilliance, of an intellectual fire, to which
all things are subservient and from which all things have issued.

2 Tota terra plena est intelligentia, ad operationem Natures inclinata ,
ques intelligentia movetur a Natura Superiore , ita quod Natura intellec-
tiva inferior assimilatur Natures Superiori.

3 Prester is the Latin form.

4 See Hederici Lexicon, s.v. ir pya-r^p.

294

Lumen de Turn in e

Living Ones,1 2 namely the Second Person, whom the
Kabalists style the Supernatural East. For as the natural
light of the sun is first manifested to us in the East, so
the Supernatural Light was first manifested in the Second
Person, for He is Principium Alter utionis* the Beginning of
the Ways of God, or the First Manifestation of His Father’s
Light in the Supernatural Generation. From this Land
of the Living comes all life or spirit,3 according to that
position of the Mekkubalim : “ Every good soul is anew soul
coming from the East”4 — that is, from rrD!Dn= Chokmah ,
or the Second Sephira , which is the Son of God.

Now for the better understanding of this descent of
the soul we must refer ourselves to another placet of the
Kabalists, and this is it : “ The souls ” — say they —
cc descend from the Third Light to the fourth day, thence
to the fifth, whence they pass out and enter the night of
the body.”5 To understand this maxim you must know
there are three Supreme Lights or Sephiroth , which the
Kabalist calls “ one throne, wherein sits the Holy, Holy,
Holy Lord God of Hosts.”6 This Third Light from
whence the souls descend is nri = Binah , the last of the
Three Sephiroth , and it signifies the Holy Ghost.7 Now
that you may know in what sense this descent proceeds
from that Blessed Spirit I will somewhat enlarge my dis-

1 Terra viventium. There is the Earth of Life in Kabalism, and this
is now Binah and again Malkuth .

2 The reference is presumably to Chokmah , the second Sephira , which
is sometimes incorrectly referred by Christian Kabalists to the Second
Person of the Divine Trinity. The Divine Son of Kabalism is extended
from Daath.

3 Terra Vive7itium.

4 Omnis anima bona est anima nova ve?iiens ab Oriente. — No. 41 in the
CONCLUSIONES KABALISTIC^E of Picus.

5 Animce a tertio himine ad quartam diem , inde ad quintam descendunt :
inde exeuntes corporis noctem subintrant. — CONCLUSIONES KabalistiCjE,
No. 8.

6 Sedes una , in qua sedet Sa?ictus , Sanctus , Sa?ictus Dominus Deus
Sabaoth.

7 Binah is the place of Shekinah in the transcendence. See my Secret
Doctrine in Israel, pp. 216 et seq., for the Sephirotic allocation of the
Holy Spirit according to the Zohar.

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The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

course, for the Kabalists are very obscure on the point.
“To breathe” — say the Jews — “ is the property of the
Holy Ghost.”1 Now we read that God breathed into
Adam the breath of life, and he became a living soul.2
Here you must understand that the Third Person is the
last of the Three, not that there is any inequality in them
but it is so in the order of operation, for He applies first
to the creature and therefore works last. The meaning
of it is this. The Holy Ghost could not breathe a soul
into Adam but He must either receive it or have it of
Himself. Now the truth is He receives it, and what
He receives that He breathes into Nature.3 Hence this
Most Holy Spirit is styled by the Kabalists “ the River
flowing forth from Paradise,” because He breathes as a
river streams.4 * He is also called Mother of sons,6 because
by this breathing He is, as it were, delivered of those
souls which have been conceived ideally in the Second
Person.6 Now that the Holy Ghost receives all things
from the Second Person is confirmed by Christ Himself :
“ When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide
you into all truth : for He shall not speak of Himself ;
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak : and
He will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me :
for He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
All things that the Father hath are mine : therefore said
I, that He shall take of mine.” 7 Here we plainly see
that there is a certain subsequent order or method in the
operations in the Blessed Trinity, for Christ tells us that
He receives from His Father and the Holy Ghost receives

1 S fir are Spiritus Sancti proprium est. 2 GENESIS, ii, 7.

3 He receives and gives eternally and infinitely because of the super¬
incession between the Divine Persons, according to the high doctrine of

transcendental theology.

4 Fluvius egrediens a Paradiso.

6 Mater filiorum. I do not know whence this title is drawn, but it is
probably from a Kabalistic text and refers to Shekinah.

6 None of the theosophical systems from which Vaughan derives was
guilty of this irrational mixture of sex offices in dealing with sex symbolism.

7 St John, xvi, 13.

296

Lumen de Lumine

from Him. Again, that all things are conceived ideally
or — as we commonly express it — created by the Second
Person is confirmed by the word of God. “ The world
was made by Him ” — saith the Scripture — “ and the
world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not.” 1 This may suffice for such as
love the truth ; and as for that which the Kabalist speaks
of the fourth and fifth days it suits not with my present
design, and therefore I must waive it. It is clear then
that the Land of the Living, or the Eternal Fire-Earth,
buds and sprouts, hath her fiery spiritual flowers, which
we call souls, as this natural earth hath her natural vege¬
tables. In this mysterious sense is the Prester defined in
the Oracles as “the flower of thin fire.”2

But that we may come at last to the thing intended, I
think it not amiss to instruct you by this manuduction.
You know that no artificer can build but the earth must
be the foundation to his building, for without this
groundwork his brick and mortar cannot stand. In the
creation, when God did build, there was no such place
to build upon. I ask then : where did He rest His
matter and upon what ? Certainly He built and founded
Nature upon His own supernatural centre. He is in
her and through her, and with His Eternal Spirit doth
He support heaven and earth — as our bodies are supported
with our spirits.3 This is confirmed by that oracle of
the apostle : “ He bears up all things with the word of
His power.” 4 From this power is He justly styled “ the
infinitely powerful and the all-powerful power-making
power.” 5 I say then that Fire and Spirit are the pillars
of Nature, the props on which her whole fabric rests and
without which it could not stand one minute. This Fire
or Prester is the Throne of the Quintessential Light, from

1 St John, i, IO, II. 2 Aeirrov irvpbs &V0OS.

3 The doctrine of Divine Immanence is here enunciated in its fulness
within the limits of a sentence.

4 Omnia ftortat verbo virtutis sike.

6 ’A7 reipoSvvamos Kai n aVTohvvajxos Svya/j-onoibs 8vva/j.is.

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whence He dilates Himself to generation, as we see in
the effusion of the sunbeams in the great world. In this
dilatation of the light consists the joy or pleasure of the
passive spirit and in its contraction his melancholy or
sorrow. We see in the great body of Nature that in
turbulent weather, when the sun is shut up and clouded,
the air is thick and dull and our own spirits — by secret
compassion with the spirit of the air — are dull too. On
the contrary, in clear, strong sunshine the air is quick
and thin, and the spirit of all animals are of the same
rarefied, active temper. It is plain then that our joys and
sorrows proceed from the dilatation and contraction of
our inward quintessential light. This is apparent in
despairing lovers, who are subject to a certain, violent,
extraordinary panting of the heart, a timourous, trembling
pulse which proceeds from the apprehension and fear of
the spirit in relation to his miscarriage. Notwithstanding
he desires to be dilated, as it appears by his pulse or
sally, wherein he doth discharge himself ; but his despair
checks him again and brings him to a sudden retreat or
contraction. Hence it comes to pass that we are subject
to sighs, which are occasioned by the sudden pause of
the spirit ; for when he stops the breath stops, but when
he looseth himself to an outward motion we deliver two
or three breaths, that have been formerly omitted, in one
long expiration : and this we call a sigh. This passion
hath carried many brave men to very sad extremities. It
is originally occasioned by the spirit of the mistress or
affected party ; for her spirit ferments or leavens the
spirit of the lover, so that it desires an union as far as
Nature will permit. This makes us resent even smiles
and frowns, like fortunes and misfortunes. Our thoughts
are never at home, according to that well-grounded
observation : cc The soul dwells not where she lives but
where she loves.” 1 We are employed in a perpetual con¬
templation of the absent beauty ; our very joys and woes

1 Anima est ubi amat , no7i ubi animat.

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Lumen de Lumine

are in her power ; she can set us to what humour she
will, as Campian was altered by the music of his mistress.

When to her lute Corinna sings
Her voice enlives the leaden strings ;

But when of sorrows she doth speak
Even with sighs the strings do break :

And as her lute doth live or die,

Led by her passions, so do I.

This and many more miraculous sympathies proceed
from the attractive nature of the Prester. It is a spirit
that can do wonders ; and now let us see if there be any
possibility to come at him. Suppose then we should
dilapidate or dis-compose some artificial building, stone
by stone, there is no question but we should come at
last to the earth whereupon it is founded. It is just so
in magic : if we open any natural body and separate all
the natural parts one from another we shall come at last
to the Prester, which is the Candle and Secret Light of
God.1 We shall know the Hidden Intelligence and see
that Inexpressible Face which gives the outward figure
to the body. This is the syllogism we should look after,
for he that has once passed the Aquaster enters the fire-
world and sees what is both invisible and incredible to
the common man. He shall know the secret love of
heaven and earth and the sense of that deep Kabalism :
“ There is not an herb here below but he hath a star in
heaven above ; and the star strikes him with her beam
and says to him : Grow.” 2 He shall know how the fire-
spirit hath his root in the spiritual fire-earth and receives
from it a secret influx upon which he feeds, as herbs feed
on that juice and liquor which they receive at their roots
from this common earth.

This is it which our Saviour tells us : “ Man lives not

1 Not, however, by any manual operation, for therein it escapes. The
deep searching is after another manner, as Jacob Bohme knew.

2 Non est planta hie inferius cni no?i est stella in ftrmamento sufterius ,
et ferit earn stella , et dicit ei : Cresce.

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by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the
mouth of God.” 1 He meant not, by ink and paper, or
the dead letter : it is a mystery, and St Paul hath partly
expounded it. He tells the Athenians that God made
man to the end “ that he should seek the Lord, if haply
they might feel after Him, and find Him.” 2 Here is a
strange expression, you will say, that a man should feel
after God or seek Him with his hands. But he goes on
and tells you where he shall find Him. He is “ not far ”
— saith he — “ from every one of us : for in Him we live,
and move, and have our being.” 3 For the better under¬
standing of this place I wish you to read Paracelsus his
Philosophia ad Athenienses, a glorious, incomparable
discourse : but you will shortly find it in English.4
Again, he that enters the centre shall know why all
influx of fire descends — against the nature of fire — and
comes from heaven downwards. He shall know also
why the same fire, having found a body, ascends again
towards heaven and grows upwards.

To conclude : I say the grand, supreme mystery of
magic is to multiply the Prester and place him in the
moist, serene ether, which God hath purposely created to
qualify the fire. For I would have thee know that this
spirit may be so chafed — and that in the most temperate
bodies — as to undo thee upon a sudden. This thou
mayst guess thyself by the “ thundering gold,” 5 as the
chemist calls it. Place him then as God hath placed the
stars, in the condensed ether of his chaos, for there he
will shine — not burn ; he will be vital and calm — not
furious and choleric. This secret, I confess, transcends
the common process, and I dare tell thee no more of it.
It must remain then as a light in a dark place ; but how
it may be discovered do thou consider.

1 St Matt., iv, 4. 2 Acts, xvii, 27. 3 Ibid., xvii, 28.

4 A new translation was included in my edition of the HERMETIC AND
Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.

6 XpvcroKepawbs, id est, Aiti'um fuhninans.

3°°

Lumen de Lumine

X. — The Green Salt

It is a tincture of the sapphiric mine 1 and — to define it
substantially — it is the air of our little invisible fire-world.
It produceth two noble effects — youth and hope. Where¬
soever it appears, it is an infallible sign of life — as you
see in the springtime, when all things are green. The
sight of it is cheerful and refreshing beyond all imagina¬
tion. It comes out of the heavenly earth, for the sapphire
doth spermatise and injects her tinctures into the ether,
where they are carried and manifested to the eye. This
sapphire is equal of herself to the whole compound, for
she is threefold, or hath in her three several essences. I
have seen them all — not in airy, imaginary suppositions
but really, with my bodily eyes. And here we have
Apollodorus his mathematical problem resolved, namely,
that Pythagoras should sacrifice a hundred oxen when
he found out “ that the subtendent of a right angled
triangle was equivalent to those parts which contained
it,” &c.

XI. — The Diapasm, or Magical Perfume

It is compounded of the sapphiric earth and the ether.
If it be brought to its full exaltation, it will shine like the
day-star in his first eastern glories. It hath a fascinating,
attractive faculty, for if you expose it to the open air it
will draw to it birds and beasts, &c.

XII. — The Regeneration, Ascent and
Glorification 2

1 have now sufficiently and fully discovered the
principles of our chaos. In the next place I will shew

1 This figurative expression seems peculiar to Vaughan. The alchemical
Sapphire signifies Mercurial Water, into which also it was supposed that
the precious stone could be itself reduced.

2 This section offers peculiar difficulties. Now it seems to speak of a
physical work depending on the maintenance of an external fire, but

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you how you are to use them. You must unite them
to a new life, and they will be regenerated by water and
the Spirit. These two are in all things. They are placed
there by God Himself, according to that speech of
Trismegistus : “ Each thing whatsoever bears within it
the seed of its own regeneration.” 1 Proceed then
patiently, but not manually. The work is performed by
an invisible artist, for there is a secret incubation of the
Spirit of God upon Nature. You must only see that the
outward heat fails not, but with the subject itself you
have no more to do than the mother hath with the child
that is in her womb. The two former principles perform
all ; the Spirit makes use of the water to purge and wash
his body ; and he will bring it at last to a celestial,
immortal constitution. Do not you think this impos¬
sible. Remember that in the incarnation of Christ Jesus
the Quaternarius or four elements, as men call them, were
united to their Eternal Unity and Ternarius. Three and
four make seven ; this Septenary is the true Sabbath, the
Rest of God into which the creature shall enter. This is
the best and greatest manuduction that I can give you.
In a word, salvation itself is nothing else but transmuta¬
tion. “Behold” — saith the apostle — “I shew you a
mystery ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trump.” 2 God of His great mercy prepare us for it,
that from hard, stubborn flints of this world we may
prove chrysoliths and jaspers in the new, eternal founda¬
tions ; that we may ascend from this present distressed
Church, which is in captivity with her children, to the
free Jerusalem from above, which is the mother of us all.

pursued without other interference on the part of the artist, so that — as
Vaughan suggests elsewhere— the alchemist would not necessarily neglect
his business by reading the famous Arcadia. And now it is concerned
with the mysteries of eternal salvation.

1 Unumquodque habet in se senmi sues regene7'ationis.

2 I Corinthians, xv, 51, 52.

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Lumen cle Lumine

XIII. — The Descent and Metempsychosis

There is in the world a scribbling, ill-disposed genera¬
tion : they write only to gain an opinion of knowledge,
and this by amazing their readers with whimsies and
fancies of their own. These commonly call themselves
chemists and abuse the Great Mystery of Nature with
the name and nonsense of Lapis Chemicus.1 T find not
one of them but hath mistaken this descent for the ascent
or fermentation. I think it necessary therefore to inform
the reader there is a twofold fermentation — a spiritual
and a bodily one.2 The spiritual fermentation is per¬
formed by multiplying the tinctures, which is not done
with common gold and silver, for they are not tinctures
but gross, compacted bodies. The gold and silver of
the philosophers are a soul and spirit ; they are living
ferments and principles of bodies ; but the two common
metals — whether you take them in their gross composition
or after a philosophical preparation — are no way pertinent
to our purpose. The bodily fermentation is that which
I properly call the descent ; and now we will speak of it.

When thou hast made the Stone or Magical Medicine,
it is a liquid, fiery, spiritual substance — shining like the
sun. In this complexion, if you would project, you could
hardly find the just proportion, the virtue of the Medicine
is so intensive and powerful. The philosophers therefore
took one part of their Stone and did cast it upon ten
parts of pure molten gold.3 This single small grain did
bring all the gold to a bloody powder ; and, on the
contrary, the gross body of the gold did abate the
spiritual strength of the projected grain. This descent
or incorporation some wise authors have called a bodily

1 See ante , Anima Magica Abscondita, p. 95.

2 On this statement see my Introduction. Vaughan does not necessarily
mean that there is a spiritual alchemy belonging to the inward nature of
man and a physical alchemy or work on metals of the mine. The Spiritual
Fermentation produced the Stone itself.

3 Presumably metallic gold, as appears from the statement which follows
almost immediately.

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The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

fermentation ; but the philosophers did not use common
gold to make their Stone, as some scribblers have written.
They used it only to qualify the intensive power of it
when it is made, that they might the more easily find
what quantity of base metal they should project upon.1
By this means they reduced their Medicine to a dust,
and this dust is the Arabian Elixir. This Elixir the
philosophers could carry about them, but the Medicine
itself not so, for it is such a subtle, moist fire there is
nothing but glass that will hold it. Now for their
Metempsychosis : it hath indeed occasioned many errors
concerning the soul, but Pythagoras applied it only to
the secret performances of magic.2 It signifies their last
transmutation, which is done with the Elixir or Qualified
Medicine. Take therefore one part of it ; cast it on a
millenary proportion of quicksilver, and it will be all pure
gold, that shall pass the test royal without any diminution.

Now, Reader, I have done, and for a farewell I will
give thee a most noble, secret, sacred truth. The chaos
itself, in the very first analysis, is threefold ; the sapphire
of the chaos is likewise threefold. Here thou hast six
parts, which is the Pythagorical Senarius , or Number of
the Spouse.3 In these six the influx of the Metaphysical
Unity is sole monarch and makes up the seventh number
or Sabaoth , in which at last — by the assistance of God —
the body shall rest.4 Again, every one of these six parts
is twofold, and these duplicities are contrarieties. Here
then thou hast twelve — six against six in a desperate
division and the unity of peace amongst them. These

1 This is very plain sense for once, indeed to an unusual degree. The
Medicine itself was not derived from metals but was applied thereto.
Yet when alchemical philosophers spoke most clearly we are warned that
they darkened counsel only the more effectually.

2 The meaning is that it is not a transmigration of the spirit of man.

3 Numerus Conjugii. But the number of the Eternal Spouse Who is
the Christ-Spirit is eight.

4 It is very difficult to think that Vaughan is speaking here of any
physical process, or of any body except the body of man — psychic or
corporeal — upon which the spirit operates from within.

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Lumen de Lumine

duplicities consist of contrary natures : one part is good,
one bad ; one corrupt, one incorrupt ; and — in the terms
of Zoroaster — one rational, one irrational. These bad,
corrupt, irrational seeds are the tares and sequels of the
curse. Now, Reader, I have unriddled for thee the
grand, mysterious problem of the Kabalist. “ In the
seven parts ” — saith he — “ there are two triplicities, and
in the middle there stands one thing. Twelve stand in
battle array : three friends, three foes ; three warriors
make alive ; three in like manner slay. And God the
Faithful King ruleth over all from the Hall of His
sanctity. One upon three, and three upon seven, and
seven upon twelve, and all standing in close array, one
with another.”1

This and no other is the truth of that science which I
have prosecuted a long time with frequent and serious
endeavours. It is my firm, decreed resolution to write
no more of it ; and if any will abuse what is written, let
him. He cannot so injure me but I am already satisfied :
I have to my reward a light that will not leave me. u Of
his fellow-traveller the sun cannot fail to be mindful.” 2
I will now close up all with the doxology of a most
excellent renowned Philocryphus.

To God alone be Praise and Power !

Amen in the name of Mercury, that Water
which runs without feet and
operates metallically
wheresoever it is found.3

1 Septem partibus insunt duo ternaria , et in medio stat unutn. Duodecim
stant in bello : tres amici , tres inimici : ires viri virificant , ires etiam
occidunt : et Dens Rex Fidelis , ex suo sanctitatis atrio dominatur omnibus.
Vnus super ires, et tres super septem, et septem super duodecem ; et sunt
omnes stipati, alius cum alio.

2 Nescit sol comitis non mentor esse sui.

3 Soli Deo laus et potentia. Amen in Mer curio, qui pe dibits licet care?is
decurrit aqua, et metallice universaliter operatur.

3°5

20

EUGENIUS PHILALETHES :
HIS MAGICAL APHORISMS

This is the First Truth and this also the last

I

The Point came forth before all things : it was neither
atomic nor mathematical, being a diffused point. The
Monad manifested explicitly but a myriad were implied.
There was light and there was darkness, beginning and
the end thereof, the all and naught, being and non-being.

II

The Monad produced the Duad by self-motion, and
the visages of the Second Light manifested through the
Triad.

III

A simple, uncreated fire sprang forth and beneath the
waters assumed the garment of manifold, created fire.

IV

It looked back on the primeval fountain and taking
this as a pattern set its seal upon the lower in triadic form.

V

Unity created the one and the Trinity divided into
three. It is thus that there arises the Tetrad, as the
bond and link of reduction.

306

Lumen de Lumine

VI

Among things visible the water first shone forth, the
feminine aspect of brooding fire and fruitful mother of
figurable things.

VII

She was porous inwardly and variously clothed with
skins : in her womb were interfolded heavens and inchoate
stars.

VIII

The Artificer, who parts asunder, broke up the womb
of the waters into spacious regions ; but when the foetus
appeared the mother vanished.

IX

This notwithstanding, the mother brought forth re¬
splendent sons, who overran the Land of Chai.

X

These in their turn generated the mother anew : in the
wood of wonder her fountain sings.

XI

This is the Steward of wisdom : let him be clerk who
can.

XII

He is Father of all created things and forth from the
created Son, by a living analysis of that Son, is the Father
brought forth anew. Herein is the highest mystery of
the generating circle : Son of the Son is He Who first
was Father of the Son.

307

*

AULA LUCIS

OR THE HOUSE OF LIGHT

To My Best and Noblest Friend,

Seleucus Abantiades

What you are I need not tell you : what 1 am you
know already. Our acquaintance began with my child¬
hood, and now you see what you have purchased. I can
partly refer my inclinations to yourself, and those only
which I derive from the contemplative order ; for the rest
are beside your influence. I here present you with the
fruits of them, that you may see my light hath water to
play withal. Hence it is that I move in the sphere of
generation and fall short of that test of Heraclitus : “ Dry
light is best soul.” 1 I need not expound this to you, for
you are in the centre and see it. Howsoever, you may
excuse me if I prefer conceptions to fancies. I could
never affect anything that was barren, for sterility and
love are inconsistent. Give me a knowledge that’s fertile
in performances, for theories without their effects are but
nothings in the dress of things. How true this is you
can tell me ; and if I but recite what is your own you
must not therefore undervalue it, it being in some sense
a sacrifice ; for men have nothing to give but what they
receive. Suffer me then at the present to stand your
censer and exhale that incense which your own hands
have put in. I dare not say here is revelation, nor can I
boast with the prodigious artist you read of that I have
lived three years “ in the realm of light.” 2 It is enough
that I have light, as the King of Persia had his Bride
of the Sun ; 3 and truly, I think it happiness to have seen
that candle lodged which our fathers judged to be wander-

1 Lumen sicca optima anima. 2 In regione lucis.

3 Sponsa Solis.

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ing light, seeking habitation.1 But I grow absurd : I
speak as if I would instruct you ; and now — methinks —
you ask me : Who readeth this ? 2 It is I, Sir, that read
the tactics here to Hannibal and teach him to break rocks
with vinacre. I am indeed somewhat pedantic in this, but
the liberty you are still pleased to allow me hath carried
me beyond my cue. It is a trespass you know that’s very
ordinary with me and some junior colleagues. Nor can
I omit those verses which you have been sometimes pleased
to apply to this forwardness of mine.

Such was the steed in Grecian poets famed,

Proud Cyllarus, by Spartan Pollux tamed ;

Such coursers bore to fight the god of Thrace
And such, Achilles, was thy warlike race.3

It is my opinion, Sir, that truth cannot be urged with
too much spirit, so that I have not sinned here as to the
thing itself, for the danger’s only in your person. I am
afraid my boldness hath been such I may be thought to
fall short of that reverence which I owe you. This is it
indeed which I dare call a sin, and I am so far from it
that it is my private wonder how I came to think it.
Suffer me then to be impertinent for once and give me
leave to repent of an humour which I am confident you
place not amongst my faults but amongst your own
indulgences.

Your humble servant,

S. N.

From Heliopolis.

1651.

1 Lux erra?is , qucerens habitaculum.

2 Quis legit hcec ?

3 Talis amyclcei domitus Pollucis habenis
Cyllarus , et quorum Graii ?neminere foefc?,
Martis equi bijuges et magni currus A chillis.

I have given Dryden’s rendering in the text.

312

TO THE PRESENT READERS

It will be questioned perhaps by the envious to what
purpose these sheets are prostituted, and especially that
drug wrapped in them — the Philosopher’s Stone. To
these it is answered by Solomon : “ There is a time to
cast away stones.” 1 And truly — I must confess — I cast
away this Stone, for 1 misplace it. I contribute that to
the fabric which the builders in all ages have refused.
But lest I seem to act sine proposito , I must tell you I
do it not for this generation, for they are as far from fire
as the author is from smoke. Understand me if you can,
for I have told you an honest truth. I write books, as
the old Roman planted trees, for the glory of God and
the benefit of posterity.2 It is my design to make over
my reputation to a better age, for in this I would not en¬
joy it, because I know not any from whom I would receive
it. And here you see how ambitious I am grown ; but
if you judge the humour amiss tell me not of it, lest I
should laugh at you. I look indeed a step further than
your lives, and if you think I may die before you I would
have you know it is the way to go beyond you.

To be short : if you attempt this discourse, you do it
without my advice, for it is not fitted to your fortunes.
There is a white magic this book is enchanted withal : it
is an adventure for Knights of the Sun, and the errants of
this time may not finish it.3 I speak this to the university

1 Ecclesiastes, iii, 5. 2 Posteris et diis immortalibus.

3 A satirical reference to the extraordinary length and prolixity of a
certain romance of chivalry called Le Chevalier du Soleil : one of the
editions is in eight stout volumes : and probably many errants in this kind
of literature failed to finish it.

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Quixotes, and to those only who are ill-disposed as well
as indisciplined. There is amongst them a generation of
wasps, things that will fight though never provoked.
These buckle on their logic as proof, but it fares with
them as with the famous Don : they mistake a basin for
a helmet. For mine own part I am no reformer ; I can
well enough tolerate their positions, for they do not
trouble mine. What I write is no rule for them ; it is a
legacy deferred to posterity ; for the future times, wearied
with the vanities of the present, will perhaps seek after
the truth and gladly entertain it. Thus you see what
readers I have predestined for myself ; but if any present
Mastix 1 fastens on this discourse I wish him not to
traduce it, lest I should whip him for it. This is my
advice, which if it be well observed, ’tis possible I may
communicate more of this nature. I may stand up like
a Pharus in a dark night and hold out that lamp which
Philalethes 2 hath overcast with that envious phrase of the
Rabbins : “ Ofttimes the silence of wisdom.” 3

1 Yet another jibe at Henry More and his criticism, as if two rejoinders
at full length in the form of books had not testified adequately.

2 A reference to Vaughan himself under his pseudonym of Eugenius
Philalethes.

3 Scepe sapientice silentium.

AULA LUCIS

I have resolved with myself to discourse of Light 1 and
to deliver it over to the hands of posterity, a practice
certainly very ancient and first used by those who were
first wise. It was used then for charity, not for pomp,
the designs of those authors having nothing in them of
glory but much of benefit. It was not their intention to
brag that they themselves did see but to lead those who
in some sense were blind and did not see. To effect this
they proceeded not as some modern barbarians do — by
clamourous, malicious disputes. A calm instruction was
proposed and, that being once rejected, was never after¬
wards urged, so different and remote a path from the
schoolroom did they walk in ; and verily they might well
do it, for their principles being once resisted they could
not inflict a greater punishment on their adversaries than
to conceal them. Had their doctrine been such as the
universities profess now their silence indeed had been a
virtue ; but their positions were not mere noise and
notion. They were most deep experimental secrets, and
those of infinite use and benefit. Such a tradition then
as theirs was may wear that style of the noble Verulam
and is most justly called a Tradition of the Lamp.2 But
I observe that in their delivery of mysteries they have, as
in all things else, imitated Nature, who dispenseth not

1 In alchemical symbolism the term Lux was applied to the powder
of projection, as the light of imperfect metals ; to philosophical Mercury,
when the darkness of its impurities has been separated from the white¬
ness of its essence ; and to red sophic Sulphur, which is accredited with
a solar nature.

2 Traditio Lampadis.

315

The W orks of Thomas Vaughan

her light without her shadows. They have provided a
veil for their art, not so much for obscurity as ornament :
and yet I cannot deny that some of them have rather
buried the truth than dressed it. For my own part, I
shall observe a mean way, neither too obscure nor too
open, but such as may serve posterity and add some
splendour to the science itself.

And now, whosoever thou art that in times to come
shall cast thine eyes on this book, if thou art corrupted
with the common philosophy, do not presently rage and
take up the pen in defiance of what is here written. It
may be thou hast studied thy three questions pro forma
and a quick disputant thou art. But hast thou concocted
the whole body of philosophy ? Hast thou made Nature
the only business of thy life ? And hast thou arrived at
last to an infallible experimental knowledge ? If none of
these things, upon what foundation dost thou build ? It
is mere quacking to oppose the dead and such perhaps as
thy betters durst not attempt in time of life. But as one
said : that advantage breeds baseness. So some may
insult because their adversary is out of the way, and tell
me with that friendly stoic : “ Dost thou not hear this,
Amphiarus, you who are hidden under the earth ? ” 1

If any such tares spring above ground, when I am
under it, I have already looked upon them as an idle,
contemptible bundle. I have prepared them a convenient
destiny and by my present scorn annihilated their future
malice. It is a better and more serious generation I would
be serviceable unto, a generation that seeks Nature in the
simplicity thereof and follows her not only with the
tongue but with the hand. If thou art such then as this
character speaks, let me advise thee not to despair. Give
me leave also to affirm unto thee, and that on my soul,
that the consequences and treasures of this art are such
and so great that thy best and highest wishes are far short

1 Audisne hoc Amphiarai sub terrain abdite ? — The son of CEclus was
an augur who was swallowed by an earthquake.

3 1 6

Aula Luc is

of them. Read then with diligence what I shall write,
and to thy diligence add patience, to thy patience hope ;
for I tell thee neither fables nor follies.

For thee old stores of fame and power I steal,

And holy springs audaciously unseal.1

I tell thee a truth as ancient as the fundamentals of the
world ; and now, lest my preface should exceed in relation
to the discourse itself, which must be but short, I will
quit this out-work, that I may bring thee within doors ;
and here will I shew thee the throne of light and the
crystalline court thereof.

Light originally had no other birth than manifestation,
for it was not made but discovered. It is properly the
life of every thing, and it is that which acts in all par¬
ticulars ; but the communion thereof with the First Matter
was celebrated by a general contract before any particulars
were made.2 The matter of itself was a passive thin
substance but apt to retain light, as smoke is to retain
flame. After impregnation it was condensed to a crystal¬
line moisture, unctuous and fiery, of nature hermaphro-
ditical, and this in a double sense, in relation to a double
centre — celestial and terrestrial. From the terrestrial
centre proceeded the earthly Venus, which is fiery and
masculine, and the earthly Mercury, which is watery and
feminine ; and these two are one against the other. From
the celestial centre proceeded two living images, namely,
a white and a red light ; and the white light settled in
the water but the red went into the earth. Hence you
may gather some infallible signs, whereby you may direct
yourselves in the knowledge of the Matter and in the
operation itself, when the Matter is known. For if you

1 Tibi res antiques laudis et artis
Aggredior, sanctos ausus recludere fontes.

2 The mixture of notions is confusing but is not unusual in this order of
speculation, or indeed in some higher orders. Discovery postulates some
intelligent subject to which it is made and such subject belongs to the
world of particulars, if there is any logic in terms.

3*7

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

have the true sperm and know withal how to prepare it —
which cannot be without our secret fire — you shall find
that the matter no sooner feels the philosophical heat but
the white light will lift himself above the water, and there
will he swim in his glorious blue vestment like the
heavens.

But that I may speak something more concerning the
chaos itself, I must tell you it is not rain-water nor dew,
but it is a subtle mineral moisture, a water so extremely
thin and spiritual, with such a transcendent, incredible
brightness, there is not in all Nature any liquor like it
but itself. In plain terms, it is the middle substance of
the wise men’s Mercury,1 a water that is coagulable and
may be hardened by a proper heat into stones and metals.
Hence it was that the philosophers called it their Stone,
or if it be lawful for me to reveal that which the devil
out of envy would not discover to Illardus, I say they
called it a Stone, to the end that no man might know
what it was they called so. For there is nothing in the
world so remote from the complexion of a stone,2 for it
is water and no stone. Now what water it is I have told
you already, and for your better instruction I shall tell
you more : it is a water made by Nature, not extracted
by the hands of man. Nor is it mere water but a
spermatic, viscous composition of water, earth, air and
fire. All these four natures unite in one crystalline,
coagulable mass, in the form or appearance of water ;
and therefore I told you it was a water made by Nature.
But if you ask me how Nature may be said to make any
such water, I shall instruct you by an example that’s
obvious. Earth and water are the only materials where¬
upon Nature works, for these two, being passive, are
compassed about with the active superior bodies, namely,
with the air, heaven, sun and stars. Thus do they stand

1 Which according to the Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique is
manifested by the process of purification.

2 This appears a contradiction in terms of the immediately previous
statement — that the said water may be hardened into stones or metals.

3l8

Aula Lucis

in the very fire, at least under the beams and ejaculations
thereof, so that the earth is subject to a continual torre-
faction and the water to a continual coction. Hence it
comes to pass that we are perpetually overcast with clouds,
and this by a physical extraction or sublimation of water,
which Nature herself distils and rains down upon the
earth. Now this water, though of a different complexion
from the philosopher’s mineral water,1 yet hath it many
circumstances that well deserve our observation. I shall
not insist long upon any : I will only give you one or
two instances and then return to my subject. First of
all then, you are to consider that Nature distils not beyond
the body, as the chemist doth in the recipient. She
draws the water up from the earth, and to the same earth
doth she return it ; and hence it is that she generates by
circular and reasonable imbibitions. Secondly, you must
observe that she prepares her moisture before she imbibes
the body therewith, and that by a most admirable prepara¬
tion. Her method in this point is very obvious and
open to all the world, so that if men were not blind 1
need not much to speak of it. Her water — we see — she
rarefies into clouds, and by this means doth she rack and
tenter-stretch the body, so that all the parts thereof are
exposed to a searching, spiritual purgatory of wind and
fire. For her wind passeth quite through the clouds and
cleanseth them ; and when they are well cleansed then
comes Nature in with her fire and fixeth it in ente jure
sapphirico .2

But this is not all. There are other circumstances,
which Nature useth above ground, in order to her
vegetables. And now I would speak of her subter¬
raneous preparations, in order to her minerals : but that
it is not lawful for me, as it was for the poet — u To

1 See Centrum Concentratum Naturae, under the name of
Alipili, and the figurative language concerning a “dry water from the
philosophers’ clouds.”

2 Reproduced as printed by Vaughan. I know neither the source nor
meaning of this quotation.

3l9

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

discover things hidden in deep earth and fire.” 1 How¬
ever, I shall not fail to tell thee a considerable truth,
whosoever thou art that studiest this difficult science.
The preparation of our animal and mineral sperm — I
speak of the true preparation — is a secret upon which
God hath laid His seal, and thou mayst not find it in
books, for it was never entirely written. Thy best course
is to consider the way of Nature, for there it may be
found, but not without reiterated, deep and searching
meditations. If this attempt fails thee, thou must pray
for it, not that I hold it an easy or a common thing to
attain to revelations, for we have none in England but
God may discover it to thee by some ordinary and mere
natural means. In a word, if thou canst not attain to it
in this life, yet shalt thou know it in thy own body, when
thou art past knowing of it in this subject.2 But because
I will not deprive thee of those helps which I may law¬
fully communicate, I tell thee that our preparation is a
purgation. Yet do not we purge by common, ridiculous
sublimations or the more foolish filtrations, but by a
secret, tangible, natural fire ; and he that knows this fire,
and how to wash with it, knows the key of our Art, even
our hidden Saturn, and the stupendous, infernal lavatory
of Nature. Much more could I say concerning this fire
and the proprieties thereof, it being one of the highest
mysteries of the creation, a subject questionless wherein
I might be voluminous, and all the way mysterious, for
it relates to the greatest effects of magic, being the first
male of the Mercury and almost his mother.3 Consider
then the generation of our Mercury and how he is made,
for here lies the ground of all our secrets. It is plain

1 Pandere res alta terra et caligine mersas.

2 Presumably in the arch-natural body, since — ex hypothesi — this life
has been exchanged for another. The passage is obscured by the doubt¬
ful significance of the last clause.

3 So far as I am aware, this kind of sorry confusion in sex symbolism,
of which we have had an example previously in another connection, is
peculiar to Vaughan. The alchemists themselves do not confuse male
with female and refer the offices or titles of one sex to another.

32°

Aula Luc is

that outwardly we see nothing but what is gross — for
example, earth, water, metals, stones and, amongst the
better creatures, man himself. All these things have a
lumpish, ineffectual outside, but inwardly they are full of
a subtle, vital limosity, impregnated with fire ; and this
Nature makes use of in generations, wherefore we call it
the sperm. For instance sake, we know the body of man
is not his sperm, but the sperm is a subtle extraction
taken out of his body. Even so in the great world, the
body or fabric itself is not the seed. It is not earth, air,
fire or water ; for these four — if they were put together
— would be still four bodies of different forms and com¬
plexions. The seed then, or first matter, is a certain
limosity extracted from these four, for every one of them
contributes from its very centre a thin, slimy substance ;
and of their several slimes Nature makes the sperm by
an ineffable union and mixture. This mixture and com¬
position of slimy principles is that mass which we call the
first matter. It is the minera of man, whereof God made
him : in a double image did He make him in the day
that he became a living soul. Hence a famous artist,
speaking of the creation of Adam and alluding to the
first matter, delivers himself in these terms : <c From the
limosity of the elements did God create Adam, namely,
from the limosity of earth, water, air and fire ; and He
gave unto him life from the Sun of the Holy Spirit, and
from light, clarity and the light of the world.”1 Have
a care then that you mistake not any specified body for
the sperm : beware of quicksilver, antimony and all the
metals ; and have nothing to do with aught that is
extracted from metals. Beware of salts, vitriols and
every minor mineral. Beware of animals and vegetables,
and of everything that is particular, or takes place in
the classis of any known species. The first matter is

1 Creavit Deus Adam de liniositate elementorum , scilicet de limositate
terrce , aqua, aeris et ignis , et vivificavit eum a sole Sancti Spiritus , et de
luce et claritate et lumine mundi.

2 I

32 1

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

a miraculous substance, one of which you may affirm
contraries without inconvenience. It is very weak and
yet most strong ; it is excessively soft and yet there is
nothing so hard ; it is one and all, spirit and body, fixed
and volatile, male and female, visible and invisible. It
is fire .and burns not ; it is water and wets not ; it is
earth that runs and air that stands still. In a word, it
is Mercury, the laughter of fools and the wonder of the
wise, nor hath God made anything that is like him. He
is born in the world, but was extant before the world ;
and hence that excellent riddle which he hath somewhere
proposed of himself : “ I dwell ” — saith he — “ in the
mountains and in the plains, a father before I was a son.
I generated my mother, and my mother, carrying me in
her womb, generated me, having no use for a nurse.”1

This is that substance which at present is the child of
the sun and moon ; but originally both his parents came
out of his belly. He is placed between two fires, and
therefore is ever restless. He grows out of the earth as
all vegetables do, and in the darkest night that is receives
a light from the stars, and retains it. He is attractive at
the first because of his horrible emptiness, and what he
draws down is a prisoner for ever. He hath in him a
thick fire, by which he captivates the thin ; and he is both
artist and matter to himself. In his first appearance he
is neither earth nor .water, neither solid nor fluid, but a
substance without all form but what is universal. He
is visible but of no certain colour, for chameleon-like he
put on all colours, and there is nothing in the world
hath the same figure with him. When he is purged
from his accidents, he is a water coloured with fire, deep
to the sight and- — as it were — swollen ; and he hath some¬
thing in him that resembles a commotion. In a vapourous
heat he opens his belly and discovers an azure heaven

1 Habito in montibus et in planitie , pater antequam filius : genui
matrem meam , et mater mea — sive pater — tulii me, in mat? ice sua generans
me, ?ion opus habens nutrice.

322

Aula Lucis

tinged with a milky light. Within this heaven he hides
a little sun, a most powerful red fire, sparkling like a
carbuncle, which is the red gold of the wise men. These
are the treasures of our sealed fountain, and though many
desire ' them yet none enters here but he that knows the
key, and withal how to use it. In the bottom of this well
lies an old dragon, stretched along and fast asleep. Awake
her if you can, and make her drink ; for by this means
she will recover her youth and be serviceable to you for
ever.1 In a word, separate the eagle from the green
lion ; then clip his wings, and you have performed a
miracle.2 But these, you’ll say, are blind terms, and no
man knows what to make of them. True indeed, but
they are such as are received from the philosophers. How¬
soever, that I may deal plainly with you, the eagle is the
water,3 for it is volatile and flies up in clouds, as an eagle
doth ; but 1 speak not of any common water whatsoever.
The green lion is the body, or magical earth, with which
you must clip the wings of the eagle + that is to say, you
must fix her, so that she may fly no more.4 By this we
understand the opening and shutting of the chaos, and

1 Ru’andus says that the Dragon devours the Mercury and dies : again
it drinks the Mercury and is made alive. — Lexicon Alciiemle, s.v.
Draco. But his explanatory account is complicated to an extraordinary
degree, for the Dragon is itself Mercury, besides being Salt, Sulphur and
“ earth from the body of the Sun. 57

2 Usually the Eagle is the volatile and the Lion is the fixed state. The
combat between them is that operation by which the fixed becomes
volatile.

3 Called otherwise Mercury, understood as in a state of sublimation, or
after that process has been performed.

4 The Green Lion is understood in several senses. See J. Weidenfeld :
De Secretis Adeptorum, a sort of harmony between the chief
alchemical processes. According to this author, the Green Lion signifies
(i) the material sun ; (2) philosophical Mercury, considered as a substance
which is common to every species, is found everywhere and in all ; (3)
the matter of the work, when brought into a state of dissolution ; (4) the

• same in that condition when it is called Lead of the sages ; (5) the fetid
menstruum of George Ripley, Geber and Raymond Lully, otherwise the
Blood of the Green Lion ; (6) common vitriol ; (7) common Mercury
sublimed with salt and vitriol, it being understood that this is not the true
sophic matter.

323

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

that cannot be done without our proper key — 1 mean our
secret fire, wherein consists the whole mystery of the pre¬
paration. Our fire then is a natural fire ; it is vapourous,
subtle and piercing ; it is that which works all in all, if
we look on physical digestions ; nor is there anything in
the world that answers to the stomach and performs the
effects thereof but this one thing. It is a substance of
propriety solar and therefore sulphureous. It is pre¬
pared, as the philosophers tell us, from the old dragon,1
and in plain terms it is the fume of Mercury — not crude
but cocted. This fume utterly destroys the first form of
gold, introducing a second and more noble one. By
Mercury I understand not quicksilver but Saturn philo¬
sophical, which devours the Moon and keeps her always
in'his belly. By gold I mean our spermatic, green gold —
not the adored lump/which is dead and ineffectual. It
were well certainly for the students of this noble Art if
they resolved on some general positions before they
attempted the books of the philosophers.

For example, let them take along with them these few
truths, and they will serve them for so many rules where¬
by they may censure and examine their authors. First,
that the first matter of the Stone is the very same with
the first matter of all things ; secondly, that in this matter
all the essential principles or ingredients of the Elixir are
already shut up by Nature, and that we must not presume
to add anything to this matter but what we have formerly
drawn out of it ; for the Stone excludes all extractions
but what distil immediately from its own crystalline,
universal minera ; thirdly and lastly, that the philosophers
have their peculiar secret metals, quite different from the
metals of the vulgar, for where they name Mercury they
mind not quicksilver, where Saturn not lead, where Venus
and Mars not copper and iron, and where Sol or Luna not .
gold or silver. This Stone verily is not made of common
gold and silver, but it is made, as one delivers it, “ of gold

1 Ab antiquo dracone.

324

Aula Lucis

and silver that are reputed base, that stink and withal
smell sweetly ; of green, living gold and silver to be
found everywhere but known of very few.”1 Away then
with those mountebanks who tell you of antimony, salts,
vitriols, marcasites, or any mineral whatsoever. Awa y
also with such authors as prescribe or practise upon any
of these bodies. You may be sure they were mere cheats
and did write only to gain an opinion of knowledge.
There are indeed some uncharitable but knowing Christians
who stick not to lead the blind out of his way. These
are full of elaborate, studied deceits, and one of them
who pretends to the Spirit of God hath at the same mouth
vented a slippery spirit, namely, that the Stone cannot be
opened through all the grounds — as he calls them — under
seven years.2 Truly I am of opinion that he never knew
the Stone in this natural world ; but how well acquainted
he was with the tinctures in the spiritual world I will not
determine. I must confess many brave and sublime
truths have fallen from his pen ; but when he descends
from his inspirations and stoops to a physical practice, he
is quite beside the butt.

I have ever admired the royal Geber, whose religion —
if you question — I can produce it in these few words : 3
“ The sublime, blessed and glorious God of natures.”
This is the title and the style he always bestows upon God,
and it is enough to prove him no atheist. He, I say,
hath so freely and in truth so plainly discussed this secret
that had he not mixed his many impertinences with it he
had directly prostituted the mysteries. What I speak is
apparent to all knowing artists, and hence it is that most
masters have so honoured this Arabian that in their books

1 Ex auro et argento vilibus , fcetentibus simul et suaveolentibus , vir-
entibus , animatis , abique reftertis , sed admodui7i quam ftaucis cognitis.

2 The times of the work are many and many figures are named as the
cost thereof. The reference of Vaughan is to Jacob Bohme. Khunrath
fixed the cost at thirty thalers, not including the personal expenses of the
operator during the time of the process.

3 Sublunis naturarum. Deus benedictus et gloriosus.

325

The W orks of Thomas Vaughan

he is commonly called Magister Magistrorum. We are
indeed more beholden to this prince — who did not know
Christ — than to many professed Christians, for they have
not" only concealed the truth but they have published
falsities and mere inconsistencies therewith. They have
studiously and of mere purpose deceived the world, with¬
out any respect of their credit or conscience. It is a
great question who was most envious, the devil in his
Recipe 1 to our Oxford doctor or Arnoldus in his Accipe1 2
to the King of Arragon. I know well enough what that
gentleman de Villa Nova prescribes, and I know withal
his instructions are so difficult that Count Trevor,3 when
he was adept suo modo , could not understand them. For
he hath written most egregious nonsense, and this by
endeavouring to confute greater mysteries than he did
apprehend. Now, if any man thinks me too bold for
censuring so great an artist as Arnoldus was, I am not so
empty but I can reason for myself. I charge him not
with want of knowledge but want of charity — a point
wherein even the possessors of the Philosopher’s Stone are
commonly poor. I speak this because I pity the distrac¬
tions of our modern alchemists, though Philalethes laughs
in his sleeve and, like a young colt, kicks at that name.

For my own part I advise no man to attempt this Art
without a master,4 for though you know the Matter yet
are you far short of the Medicine. This is a truth you

1 A marginal note of Vaughan says that “ this receipt was extant in
Bodley’s archives.”

2 The reference is to Perfectum Magisterium et Gaudium Magistri
Arnoldi de Villa Nova, otherwise Flos Florum, which claims to have
been transmitted by him ad inclytum Regem Aregonum. The direction
in question begins Accipe cup?i lb. i et fiat ex eo limatura munda. It is
a long and elaborate process.

3 That is, Bernard Trevisan, author of De Chimico MlRACULO and of
several other tracts, supposing that they are properly ascribed.

4 A very common recommendation on the part of alchemists, but the
long life-story of Comte de la Marche Trevisan is an instructive com¬
mentary thereon, and it pretends that he reached his term when he let
alone the search after masters but had recourse to a comparative study of
the literature and to meditation.

326

Aula Lucis

may be confident of, and if you will not believe my text,
take it upon Raymund Lully’s experience. He knew the
Matter, it being the first thing his master taught him.
Then he practised upon it, in his own phrase, after many
and multifarious modes,1 but all to no purpose. He had
the Cabinet but not the Key. At last he found himself
to be — what many doctors are, — a confident quack, a
broiler and nothing more — as it appears by his sub¬
sequent confession. “ The Masters assure us in their
goodness that the Great Work is one of solution and
congelation, the same being performed by the circulatory
way ; but through ignorance hereupon many who were
sound in scholarship have been deceived regarding the
mastery. In their excess of confidence they assumed
themselves to be proficients in the form and mode of
circulation,- and it is not our intent to conceal that we
ourselves were of those who were stricken in this respect.
With such presumption and temerity we took our under¬
standing of this science for granted, yet we grasped it in
no wise, till we came to be taught of the spirit by the
mediation of Master Arnold de Villa Novas who effectu¬
ally imparted it unto us out of his great bounty.”2

Thus he ; and now I shall advise the chemist to set a
watch at his lips because of some invisible gentlemen that
overhear. 1 myself have known some men to affirm they
had seen and done such things which God and Nature
cannot do, according to the present laws of creation.
But had my young friend Eugenius Philalethes been
present he had laughed without mercy. Take heed then

1 Maltifarie multisque modis.

2 Eleganter dixerunt philosophi quod opus magnum non est nisi solutio
et congelatio, sed ista fiunt per vitim circuloru?n , quorum ignorantia
pi urcs magnates in literatura decepti fuerunt in magisteiio , credentes
notabiliter cum confidentid se intelligere formam et modum circulandi , ex
quibus nos fuisse unum lethaliter vulneratum celare non intendimus.
Cum sola enim presumptione et temeritate scientice hujus naturam firmiter
nos intelligere credebamus, sed nullo modo intelleximus , donee te?)ipus adfuit
in quo spiritus nos docuit , non i77i?nediate sed 77iediate per Magistrum
Arnoldu7n de Villa Nova , qui largitate sua immensa repicienter in nos
inspiravit.

327

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

what you say, lest you make sport for the wise, for they
are something like the immortals :

cc Laughter unquenchable arose among the blessed gods.” 1

Many men there are who think it ordinary to be
instructed in these secrets, but in this they are confidently
mistaken. He must be a known, true friend, a friend
of years, not of days ; not a complimental thing, whose
action is all hypocrite ; not a severe dissembler, who
gives thee fair words but — if once tried — his heart is so
far from his promises that, like a fly in a box, it is scarce
a part of his body. Raymund Lully hath in a certain
place delivered himself handsomely in relation to the
practice, and this for his friend’s sake. But how rigid
then was he in scriptis . His disciple — if he could under¬
stand him — was to be accountable to him in the use of
the mystery ; and therefore he tells him plainly that he
did it <c by way of loan only, looking for restitution at
the judgment day.” 2 We must not expect then to be
instructed because we are acquainted, and verily acquaint¬
ance with such persons is a thing not common. In
ordinary favours it is supposed that men should deserve
them before they receive them ; but in this thing — which
is a benefit incomparable — it falls out otherwise. We
look for present discoveries ; we believe the philosophers
will teach us and in plain terms tell us all their Art ; but
we know not wherefore they should be so kind unto us.
Such impudent hopes have no more reason in them than
if I should spend a compliment on a rich gentleman and
then expect he should make me his heir in lieu of my
phrase, and so pass his estate upon me. This is very
absurd, but nothing more common ; though I know
there is another sort of well-wishers, but they are most
miserable, for they cast about to fool those men whom
they know to be wiser than themselves. But in this

1 ’'AafiecTTos 8’ &p ivoopro 7eAcos ixanapessi Oeo'uriP. — OD. viii, 325.

2 Mutuo tantum , et sub restitutione coram jit dice generali.

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Aula Lucis

point the philosophers need no instructions ; they can act
many parts, and he that plots to over-reach them takes a
course to break before he sets up. It remains then that
we bestow our attempts on their books, and here we must
consider the two universal natures, light and matter.

Matter — as I have formerly intimated — is the house
of light. Here he dwells and builds for himself, and, to
speak truth, he takes up his lodging in sight of all the
world.1 When he first enters it, it is a glorious, tran¬
sparent room, a crystal castle, and he lives like a familiar
in diamonds. He hath then the liberty to look out at
the windows ; his love is all in his sight : I mean that
liquid Venus which lures him in ; but this continues not
very long.2 He is busy — as all lovers are — labours for
a more close union, insinuates and conveys himself into
the very substance of his love, so that his heat and action
stir up her moist essences, by whose means he becomes
an absolute prisoner. For at last the earth grows over
him 3 out of the water, so that he is quite shut up in
darkness ; and this is the secret of the eternal God,
which He hath been pleased to reveal to some of His
’servants, though mortal man was never worthy of it.4 I
wish it were lawful for me to enlarge myself in this point
for religion’s sake, but it is not safe nor convenient that
all ears should hear even the mysteries of religion. This
leprous earth — for such it is, if it be not purged — is the
toad that eats up the eagle, or spirit, of which there is
frequent mention in the philosopher’s books. In this

1 I am reminded of “ the Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,” which
“ had elsewhere its setting, and cometh from afar.”

2 “ Shades of the prison-house begin to close.”

3 “ At length the Man perceives it die away,

And fade into the light of common day.”

4 It is not alone that in “a crust of bread” we may find the matter and
spirit of “all the stars and all the heavens,” but that it is possible also to
realise within such matter, and behind that spirit, the secretum inex-
primabile which is very God of very God, while that which is the grand
secret of the crust, after another manner and in a wider measure, is the
hidden treasure, the pearl beyond price of our manhood, awaiting the
discovery of each.

329

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

earth also have many of the wise men seated that tincture
which we commonly call darkness. Truly they may as *
well bestow it on the water or the air, for it appears not
in any one element but either in all four or else in two,
and this last was that which deceived them. Now, the
water hath no blackness at all but a majestic, large clarity.
The earth likewise, in her own nature, is a glorious
crystallised bociy, bright as the heavens. The air also
excels both these in complexion, for he hath in him a
most strange, inexpressible whiteness and serenity. As
for the fire it is outwardly red and shining — like a jacinth
— but inwardly in the spirit white as milk.

Now, if we put all these substances together, though
purged and celified, yet when they stir and work for
generation the black colour overspreads them all — and
such a black — so deep and horrid — that no common
darkness can be compared unto it. I desire to know
then whence this tincture ariseth, for the root of every
other colour is known. It is to be observed that in the
separation of the elements this blackness appears not any¬
where but in that element which is under the fire ; and
this only whiles you are drawing out the fire — for the fire
being separated the body is white. It is plain then that
darkness belongs to the fire, for in truth fire is the manal
of it ; and this is one of the greatest mysteries, both in
Divinity and philosophy.1 But those that would rightly
understand it should first learn the difference between
fire and light*

Trismegistus, in his vision of the creation, did first see
a pleasing, gladsome light, but interminated. Afterwards
appeared a horrible sad darkness, and this moved down¬
wards, descending from the eye of the light; as if a cloud
should come from the sun. This darkness — saith he — 1
was condensed into a certain water, but not without a
mournful, inexpressible voice or sound, as the vapours

1 Because of “ the Divine Darkness which is behind all manifested
Divine Light.”

33°

Aula Lucis

of the elements are resolved by thunder. After this —
saith that great philosopher — the Holy Word came out
of the light and did get upon the water, and out of the
water He made all things. Let it be your study then
— who would know all things — to seek out this secret
water, which hath in itself all things. This is the
physical and famous Pythagorean cube, which surpriseth
all forms, and retains them prisoners. <c If anywise” —
said my Capnion — cc a form implanted in this ground
remain thereon ; if it enters therein and doth abide in
such solid receptacle, being laid up therein as in a material
foundation ; it is not received at random nor indifferently
but permanently and specially, becoming inseparable and
incommunicable, as something added to the soil, made
subject to time and to place, and deprived — so to speak —
of its liberty in the bondage of matter.” 1

The consequences ’of this prison, which sometimes are
sad, and the steps that lead unto it, are most elegantly
expressed in the oracles. “ A steep descent extends
beneath the earth, leading seven ways by stages, beneath
which is the throne of a horrible necessity.”2

In a word, all things in the world — as well events as
substances — flow out* of this well. Hence come our
fortunes and our misfortunes, our riches and our poverty,
and this according to the scales of the Supreme Agent,
in his dispensations of light and darkness. We*see there
is a certain face of light in all those things which are very
dear or very precious to us. For example, in beauty*
gold, silver, pearls, and in everything that is pleasant or

1 Huic fundo si qua forma demersa innit atur huic so lido receptaculo si .
fiierit illapsa , et in hanc sedeni mateiialem reposita , non nage nec coni-
muniter recipit-ur , sed stabiliter et singulariter , fit individua et incom-
municabilis , tanquam ascripticia glebce , tempori et loco subjecta , et quasi
de libertate in servitutem materice proscripta. — Reuchlin*: De Arte
Cabalistica, Lib. ii.

2 Prcecipitiuni in terra subest ,

Septemvios trahens per gradus, sub quo
Horribilis necessitatis thronus est.

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carries with it any opinion of happiness — in all such
things I say there is inherent a certain secret, concomitant
lustre, and whiles they last the possessors also are subject
to a clearness and serenity of mind. On the contrary,
in all adversity there is a certain corroding, heavy sadness,
for the spirit grieves because he is eclipsed and overcast
with darkness. We know well enough that poverty is
but obscurity, and certainly in all disasters there is a kind
of cloud, or something that answers to it. In people that
are very unfortunate this darkness hath a character, and
especially in the forehead there lieth a notable judgment ;
but there are few who can read in such books. Of this
Vergil — who was a great poet but a greater philosopher —
was not ignorant, for describing Marcellus in the Elysian
fields he makes his sad countenance an argument of his
short life.

iEneas here beheld, of form divine,

A godlike youth in glittering armour shine,

With great Marcellus keeping equal pace :

But gloomy were his eyes, dejected was his face.

He saw, and wondering ask’d his airy guide

What and of whence was he who press’d the hero’s side ;

His son, or one of his illustrious name ;

How like the former and almost the same.

Observe the crowd that compass him around :

All gaze and all admire, and raise a shouting sound.

But hovering mists around his brows are spread
And night with sable shades involves his head.1

But these are things that ought not to be publicly
discussed, and therefore I shall omit them. He that
desires to be happy let him look after light, for it is the

1 Atque hie /Eneas — una namque ire videbat

'Egregium forma juvenem et fulgentibus armis ,

Sed frons Iceta farum et dejecto lumina vultu —

Quis, pater , ille virum qui sic comitatur eimtem ?

Filius , amie aliquis magna de stirpe nepotum ?

Qui strepitus circa comitum ! Quantum instar in ipso !

Sed nox atra caput tristi circumvolat umbra.

The translation is that of Dryden.

332

A ula Lucts

cause of happiness, both temporal and eternal. In the
house thereof it may be found, and the house is not far
off nor hard to find, for the light walks in before us and
is the guide to his own habitation. It is the light that
forms the gold and the ruby, the adamant and the silver,
and he is the artist that shapes all things. He that hath
him hath the mint of Nature and a treasure altogether
inexhaustible. He is blest with the elect substance of
heaven and earth, and in the opinion of the Turba
“ deserves to be called blessed and is raised above the
circle of the earth.”1 Nor indeed without reason, for
Nature herself dictates unto us and tells us that our
happiness consists in light. Hence it is that we naturally
love the light and* rejoice in it, as a thing agreeable and
beneficial unto us. On the contrary, we fear the dark¬
ness and are surprised in it with a certain horror and a
timourous expectation of some hurt that may befall us.
It is light then that we must look after, but of itself it is
so thin and spiritual we cannot lay hands upon it and
make it our possession. We cannot confine it to any
one place, that it may no more rise and set with the sun.
We cannot shut it up in a cabinet, that we may use it
when we please, and in the dark night see a glorious
illustration. We must look then for the mansion of
light — that oily, ethereal substance that retains it — for
by this means we may circumscribe and confine it. We
may impart and communicate it to what bodies we please,
give the basest things a most precious lustre and a com¬
plexion as lasting as the sun. This is that mystery
which the philosophers have delivered hereunto in most
envious and obscure terms ; and though I do not arrogate
to myself a greater knowledge than some of them had, yet
I do affirm — and that knowingly — that this secret was
never communicated to the world in a discourse so plain
and positive as this is. It is true this script is short, and
the body of magic hath no proportion to these few lines.

1 Felix did meretur et super drculos mundi elevatur.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

To write of it at large and discover its three scenes —
elemental, celestial and spiritual — was sometimes the
design of one that was able to perform.1 But he — and
it was ever the fortune of truth to be so served — was
.not only opposed but abused by a barbarous, malicious
ignorant.2 I should think that gentleman did set up
for Bartholomew Fair — he hath such contrivances in
his Second hash. The tutor dedicates to his pupil, and
the same pupil versifies in commendation of his tutor.3
Here was a claw ; there was never any so reciprocal :
surely Rosinante and Dapple might learn of these two.
But this is stuff to stop our noses at : let us leave it for
Cambridge, whence it first came.

The coagulation of our water and the solution of our
earth are the two greatest and most difficult operations
of the Art, for these two are contrary keys : the water
opens and the earth shuts. Be sure then to add nothing
to the subject but what is of its own n'ature, for when
it is prepared it is all-sufficient. He coagulates himself
and dissolves himself, and passeth all the colours— and
this by virtue of its own inward sulphur or fire, which
wants nothing but excitation, or, to speak plainly, a
simple, natural coction. Everybody knows how to boil
water in fire ; but if they knew how to boil fire in water
their physic would reach beyond the kitchen. Study
then and despair not ; but study no curiosities. It is a
plain, straight path that Nature walks in ; and I call
God to witness that I write not this to amaze men ; but
I write that which I know to be certainly true.

1 That is to say, Eugenius Philalethes— by the testimony of S. N., being
Thomas Vaughan — was qualified to expound the three palmary divisions
of occult philosophy ; and it will be remembered that he promised a
“ great work ” to come in Anthroposophia Theomagica.

2 The inference is that More’s Obse?vatio?is made Eugenius Philalethes
unwilling to produce his “ great work.”

3 The Second Lash of Henry More is dedicated to his pupil Mr
John Finch, and is followed by certain verses of a highly commendatory
kind on the part of Joannes Philomastix, who is here identified with
Finch by Eugenius.

334

Aula Lucis

This is all I think fit to communicate at this time,
neither had this fallen from me but that it was a command
imposed by my superiors, &cd They that desire experi¬
mental knowledge may study it as a sure guide ; but he
that rests at his lips and puts not his philosophy into
his hands needs not these instructions. Wit" s Common¬
wealth or a Book of Apothegms may serve his turn. I
prescribe not here for any but such as look after these
principles ; and they must give me leave to inform them,
if they be not perfect masters of the art. I am one that
gives and takes, and this to avoid contentions. I can
suffer the schoolman to follow his own placets, so he
doth not hinder me to follow mine. In a word, I can
tolerate men’s errors and pity them. I can propound
the truth, and if it be not followed, it is satisfaction to
me that what I did was well done.

1 I have discussed the implications of this statement in the introductory
essay. The reader may compare the postscript which here follows, accord¬
ing to which the license implied by the command was subsequently
withdrawn.

335

A POSTSCRIPT TO THE READER

This small discourse was no sooner finished — though by
command — but the same authorities recalled their com¬
mission ; and now being somewhat transformed I must —
as some mysteriously have done — live a tree.1 Yet the
wise know that groves have their durdals,2 and I remember
I have read of an image whose Hie fodias placed the sub¬
stance in the shadow. To be plain, I am silenced, and
though it be in my power to speak, yet 1 have laws as to
this subject which I must not transgress. I have chosen
therefore to oppose my present freedom to my future
necessity, and to speak something at this time which I
must never publicly speak hereafter. There is no defect
in aught that I have written, if I but tell you one thing
which the philosophers have omitted. It is that which
some authors have called “the Vessel of Nature3 and the
Green Vessel of Saturn ” ;4 and Miriam calls it the Vessel
of Hermes.5 . A menstruous substance it is ; and — to speak
the very truth — it is the matrix of Nature, wherein you
must place the universal sperm as soon as it appears
beyond its body. The heat of this matrix is sulphureous,
and it is that which coagulates the sperm ; but common
fire — though it be most exactly regulated — will never do
it ; and in this opinion see that you be not deceived. This
matrix is the life of the sperm, for it preserves and quickens
it ; but beyond the matrix it takes cold and dies, and
nothing effectual can be generated thereof. In a word,

1 I give this expression as it appears in the original. It is an obscurity,
not a misprint. The writer must submit to live like a spirit shut up in
a tree.

2 Durdales are wood-nymphs, so called by Paracelsus.

3 Vas Natures. 4 Vas viride Saturni. 5 Vas Hermetis.

336

Aula Lucis

%

without this matrix you will never coagulate the matter
nor bring it to a mineral complexion. And herein also
there is a certain measure to be observed, without which
you will miscarry in the practice. Of this natural vessel
speaks Miriam in the following words : “ The key of the
science is in all bodies, but owing to the shortness of life
and the length of the work the Stoics concealed this one
only thing. They discovered tingeing elements, leaving
instructions thereon, and these also the philosophers con¬
tinue to teach, save only concerning the Vessel of Hermes,
because the same is Divine, a thing hidden from the
Gentiles by the wisdom of God ; and those who are
ignorant of it know not the regimen of truth, for want
of the Hermetic Vessel.”1

In the proportion and regimen of this thing which they
call their vessel, and sometimes their fire, consists all the
secret. And verily the performances thereof are so ad¬
mirable and so speedy they are almost incredible. Had
I known this at first it had not been with me as it hath
been ; but every event hath its time, and so had I. This
one thing — to lay aside other reasons — doth not only per¬
suade but convince me that this Art was originally revealed
to man. For this I am sure of — that man of himself
could not possibly think of it ; for it is invisible. It is
removed from the eye, and this out of a certain reverence ;
and if by chance it comes into sight it withdraws again
naturally. For it is the secret of Nature, even that which
the philosophers call “ the first copulation.” 2 This is
enough to a wise artist ; at least it is all 1 intend to
publish. And now, Reader, farewell.

1 In omnibus corporibus est scientia , sed Stoici propter eorum vitce
brevitatem et operis prolixitatern hoc unicum occultaverunt. Illi vero
imje?ie?'unt elementa tinge?itia , et ipsi docuerunt ea, et omnes philosophi
docent ilia , prceter vas Hermetis , quia illud est Divinum et sapientia
Domini gentibus occultatum ; et illi qui illud ignorant nesciunt regimen
veritatis propter vasis Hermetis ignorantiam. — Miriam was the sister of
Moses, and the old tract attributed traditionally to her is of authority in
alchemical literature.

2 Primus concubitus.

337

22

THE FRATERNITY OF THE ROSY CROSS

AND

A SHORT DECLARATION OF
THEIR PHYSICAL WORK

A PREFACE TO THE READER 1

It is the observation of such as skill dreams that to travel
in our sleep a long way and all alone is a sign of death.
This, it seems, the poet knew, for when the Queen of
Carthage was to die for love he fits her with this melan¬
choly vision :

From all apart she treads the weary way.2

Now the use I make of it is this : I would be so wise as
to prognosticate. I do therefore promise my present work
not only life but acceptance ; for in this my dream — and
1 know you will call it so — I travel not without company.
There were some gentlemen besides myself who affected
this Fame and thought it no disparagement to their own.
But it was their pleasure it should receive light at my
hands ; and this made them defer their own copies, which
otherwise had passed the press. I have, Reader, but little
more to say, unless I tell thee of my justice, and now
thou shalt see how distributive it is. The translation of
the Fama belongs to an unknown hand, but the abilities
of the translator I question not. He hath indeed mistaken
Damascus for Damcar 3 in Arabia, and this I would not

1 In the original this address is supposed to be on the part of the
publisher, but it is the work of Thomas Vaughan and appears over his
initials.

2 Lo?igam incomitata videtur

Ire viam.

3 The Fama Fraternitatis states in the German original that Christian
Rosy Cross visited Damascus on the way to Jerusalem, but instead of
proceeding to the Holy City he went to a mysterious country or town
called Damcar and was taught secret wisdom therein. The English
translation of the document prefaced by Vaughan gives both places under
the name of Damascus.

34i

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

alter — for 1 am no pedant, to correct another man's
labours. The copy was communicated to me by a gentle¬
man more learned than myself, and I should name him
here but that he expects not either thy thanks or mine.
As for the preface, it is my own and I wish thee the full
benefit of it, which certainly thou canst not miss if thou
comest to it with clear eyes and a purged spirit. Con¬
sider that prejudice obstructs thy judgment; for if thy
affections are engaged — though to an ignis fatuus — thou
dost think it a guide because thou dost follow it. It is
not opinion makes things false or true, for men have
denied a great part of the world which now they inhabit ;
and America — as well as the Philosopher’s Stone — was
sometimes in the predicament of impossibilities. There
is nothing more absurd than to be of the same mind with
the generality of men, for they have entertained many gross
errors which time and experience have confuted. It is
indeed our sluggishness and incredulity that hinder all
discoveries, for men contribute nothing towards them but
their contempt or — which is worse — their malice. I have
known all this myself and therefore I tell it thee ; but
what use thou wilt make of it 1 know not. To make
thee what man should be is not in my power, but it is
much in thy own, if thou knowest thy duty to thyself.
Think of it and fare well. * E. P.

342

THE FRATERNITY OF THE ROSY

CROSS

If it were the business of my life or learning to procure
myself that noise which men call Fame I am not to seek
what might conduce to it. It is an age affords many
advantages, and I might have the choice of several
foundations whereon to build myself. I can see withal
that time and employment have made some persons men
whom their first adventures did not find such. This
sudden growth might give my imperfections also the
confidence of such another start ; but as I live not by
common examples so I drive not a common design. I
have taken a course different from that of the world, for
— Readers — I would have you know that, whereas you
plot to set yourselves up, I do here contrive to bring
myself down. I am in a humour to affirm the existence
of that admirable chimaera, the Fraternity of R. C.1 And
now, Gentlemen, I thank you : I have air and room
enough. Methinks you sneak and steal from me, as if
the plague and this Red Cross were inseparable. Take
my “ Lord have mercy ” along with you, for I pity your
sickly brains, and certainly as to your present state the
inscription is not unseasonable. But in lieu of this some

1 It may be well to mention here that the Rosicrucians were first heard
of in Germany about the year 1615 ; but though documents were issued
in their name, making great claims concerning them, it was an open
question from the beginning as to who and what they were, and whether
they had any corporate existence except on paper. From the year 1616
and onward the Rosicrucian cause was defended at length and frequently
by Robert Fludd in England ; but his works were in Latin, and by the
year 1652 there was very little general knowledge of the subject in this
country.

343

The IV orks of Thomas Vaughan

of you may advise me to an assertion of the Capreols of
del Phaebo or a review of the library of that discreet
gentleman of the Mancha ; for in your opinion those
Knights and these Brothers are equally invisible.1 This
is hard measure, but 1 shall not insist to disprove you.
If there be any amongst the living of the same bookish
faith with myself, they are the persons I would speak to,
• and yet in this I shall act modestly : I invite them not,
unless they be at leisure.

When I consider the unjust censure and indeed the
contempt which Magic — even in all ages — hath undergone,
I can, in my opinion, find no other reasons for it but
what the professors themselves are guilty of by miscon¬
struction, and this in reference to a double obscurity of
life and language. As for their nice or, to speak a better
truth, their conscientious retirements, whereby they did
separate themselves from dissolute and brutish spirits, it
is that which none can soberly discommend. Nay, it is
a very purging argument and may serve to wipe off those
contracted, envious scandals which time and man have
injuriously fastened on their memory. For if we reason
discreetly, we may not safely trust the traditions and
judgments of the world, concerning such persons who
sequestered themselves from the world and were no way
addicted to the affairs or acquaintance thereof. It is true
they were losers by this alienation, for both their life and
their principles were cross to those of their adversaries.
They lived in the shade, in the calm of conscience and
solitude ; but their enemies moved in the sunshine, in
the eye of worldly transactions, where they kept up their
own repute with a clamourous defamation of these
innocent and contented hermits. The second obstacle
to their fame was partly the simplicity of their style,

1 The Rosicrucians could not be found by most of those who sought
them, though there was a loud hue and cry after them for a few years
after their manifestoes were issued, and they came to be called the
Invisibles because they seemed to be permanently in hiding. It was
simply a catch description and by no means a title of ’credit.

344

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

which is Scripture-like and commonly begins like
Solomon’s text with mi filii. But that which spoiled all,
and made them contemptible even to some degree of
misery, was a corrupt delivery of the notions and vocabula
of the art ; for magic — like the sun — moving from the
East, carried along with it the oriental terms which our
western philosophers, who skilled not the Arabic or
Chaldee, &c., did most unhappily and corruptly tran¬
scribe ; and verily at this day they are- so strangely abused
it is more than a task to guess at their original. But this
is not all, for some were so singular as to invent certain
barbarous terms of their own ; and these conceited
riddles — together with their magisterial way of writing —
for they did not so far condescend as to reason their
positions — made the world conclude them a fabulous
generation. Indeed this was a strange course of theirs
and much different from that of Trismegistus, in whose
genuine works there is not one barbarous syllable, nor
any point asserted without most pregnant and demon¬
strative reasons. Certainly Hermes, as to his course of
life, was public and princely, in his doctrine clear and
rational, and hence it was that not only his own times
but even all subsequent generations were most constant
tributaries to his honour. On the contrary — if we may
conjecture by effects — there succeeded him in his school
certain melancholy, envious spirits whose obscure, in¬
scrutable writings rendered their authors contemptible,
but made way for that new noise of Aristotle which men
call philosophy. I may say then of these later magicians
what Solinus sometimes said of those contentious suc¬
cessors of Alexander the Great — that they were born “ to
reap the harvest of Roman glory, not to inherit so great
a name.”1

It is equally true that some skulking philosophers,
whiles they enviously suppressed the truth, did occasion¬
ally promote a lie, for they gave way to the enemy’s

1 Ad segetem Romance gloria, 7ion ad hcereditate7n tanti nominis.

~ 345

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

growth, till at last tares possessed the field and then was
the true grain cast into the fire. Nor indeed could it
be otherwise, for this bushel being placed over the
light, the darkness of it invited ignorance abroad. And
now steps out Aristotle with his pack, the triumphs of
whose petulant school had but two weak supporters —
obscurity and envy. Both these proceeded from the
malignancy of some eminent authors, whom God had
blessed with discoveries extraordinary. These, to secure
themselves and the art, judged it their best course to blot
out the past, that such as were unworthy might never
be able to follow them. It cannot be denied that this
mystery and cloud of the letter carried with it both
discretion and necessity ; 1 but what spoiled all was the
excess of the contrivers, for they passed all decency —
both in the measure and the manner of it. 1 could be
numerous in examples and proofs of this kind but that
I hold it superfluous to pause at a point which is
acknowledged on all hands.

To be short then : the umbrage and mist of their text
required some comment and clearness ; but few being
able to expound, the world ran generally to the other side
and the schoolmen have got the day, not by weight but
by number. This considered, it cannot be thought un¬
reasonable and certainly not unseasonable if a Society, con¬
scious of the truth and skilled in the abstruse principles
of Nature, shall endeavour to rectify the world.2 For
hitherto we have been abused with Greek fables and a
pretended knowledge of causes, but without their much
desired effects. We plainly see that if the least disease
invades us the schoolmen have not one notion that is so

*x Perhaps Vaughan is referring to the texts of alchemy as dealing with
a subject which for some reason had to be described darkly. The position
of the literature is very curious in this respect. From the Turba Philo-
SOPHORUM downward there was always railing at the envious who
darkened counsel by obscurity ; there was always a pretence of speaking
plainly ; but the end was always the same — a new form .of hiding.

2 A reformation of the world was ex hyfothesi the proposal put forward
by the Rosicrucian documents.

346

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

much a charm as to cure us ; and why then should we
embrace a philosophy of mere words, when it is evident
enough that we cannot live but by works ? Let us not,
for shame, be so stupid any more, for ’tis a barbarous
ignorance to maintain that for truth which our own
daily experience can assure us to be false. But some¬
body will reply that the antiquity of this peripatism
may claim some reverence ; and we must complementally
invite it abroad, not churlishly turn it out of doors.
This in my opinion were to dance before Dagon, as
David did before the Ark, to pay that respect to a lie
which is due only to the truth : and this is answer
sufficient.

As for that Fraternity whose history and confession I
have here adventured to publish, I have for my own part
no relation to them, neither do I much desire their acquaint¬
ance.1 I know they are masters of great mysteries, and
1 know withal that Nature is so large they may as well
receive as give. I was never yet so lavish an admirer of
them as to prefer them to all the world ; for it is possible
and perhaps true that a private man may have that in his
possession whereof they are ignorant. It is not their
title and the noise it hath occasioned that makes me
commend them. The acknowledgment I give them
was first procured by their books, for there 1 found them
true philosophers and therefore not chimaeras — as most
think — but men. Their principles are everyway corre¬
spondent to the ancient and primitive wisdom : nay, they
are consonant to our very religion and confirm every
point thereof.2 I question not but most of their pro-

1 Notwithstanding this open disavowal certain occult writers — usually
connected with pseudo-Rosicrucian societies — have claimed Vaughan as
a member of the Brotherhood and even as having filled the chief office
of Imperator therein. The mendacity has been repeated from mouth to
mouth continually.

2 Robert Fludd is mentioned once only by name in the writings of
Thomas Vaughan, but there is much in common between them, and I
think that this Kentish philosopher exercised no inconsiderable influence
on the later theosophist.

347

The W irks of Thomas V zughan

posals may seem irregular to common capacities ; but
where the prerogative and power of Nature is known
there will they quickly fall even, for they want not their
order and sobriety. It will be expected perhaps that I
should speak something as to their persons and habita¬
tions, but in this my cold acquaintance will excuse me ;
or had I any familiarity with them I should not doubt to
use it with more discretion. As for their existence — if I
may speak like a schoolman — there is great reason we
should believe it, neither do I see how we can deny it,
unless we grant that Nature is studied — and books also
written and published — by some other creatures than
men.1 It is true indeed that their knowledge at first was
not purchased by their own inquisitions, for they received
it from the Arabians, amongst whom it remained as the
monument and legacy of the children of the East. Nor
is this at all improbable, for the eastern countries have
been always famous for magical and secret societies.

Now am I to seek how far you will believe me in this
because I am a Christian ; and yet I doubt not you will
believe a heathen, because Aristotle was one.2 Take
then amongst you a more acceptable ethnic — I mean
Philostratus, for thus he delivers himself in the Life of
Apollonius. He brings in his Tyaneus discoursing with
Prince Phraotes and, amongst other questions proposed
to the Prince, Apollonius asks him where he had learnt
his philosophy and the Greek tongue ; for amongst the
Indians — said- this Greek— there are no philosophers.
To this simple Quaere the Prince replies smiling with a
notable sarcasm : “ Our forefathers ” — said he — “ did

ask all those who came hither in ships if they were not
pirates ; for they conceived all the world but themselves

1 An entertaining illustration of Vaughan’s sense of evidential values.

2 Another illustration that no argument was too bad and foolish to be
used against Aristotle by Vaughan. He forgets here that his great
authority, the so-called Hermes Trismegistus, was not less heathen than
the Greek, on the hypothesis of his traditional antiquity. As a matter of
fact, the writings are of course post-Christian.

348

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

\

addicted to that vice, ‘though a great one. But you
Grecians ask not those strangers who come to you if
they be philosophers.” 1 To this he adds a very dissolute
opinion of the same Grecians, namely, that philosophy,
which of all donatives is the divinest,2 should be esteemed
amongst them as a thing indifferent and proportionate to
all capacities. “ And this, I am sure ” — saith Phraotes to
Apollonius — “ is a kind of piracy tolerated amongst you,
which being applied here to philosophy I should make
bold to render it sacrilege.” 3 But the Prince proceeds
and schools his novice, for such was Apollonius, who was
never acquainted with any one mystery of Nature. u I
understand” — saith he — “that amongst you Grecians
there are many intruders that unjustly apply themselves
to philosophy, as being no way conformable to it. These
usurp a profession which is not their own, as if they
should first rob men of their clothes and then wear them,
though never so disproportionate. And thus do you
proudly straddle in borrowed ornaments. And certainly
as pirates, who know themselves liable to innumerable
tortures, do lead a sottish and a loose kind of life, even
so amongst you these pirates and plunderers of philosophy
are wholly given to lusts and compotations. And this, I
suppose, is an evil that proceeds from the blindness and
improvidence of ypur laws. For should any man-stealer
be found amongst you, or should any adulterate your coin
these were offences capital and punished with death.
But for such as counterfeit and corrupt philosophy, your
law corrects them not, neither have you any magistrate
ordained to that purpose.” 4

Thus we see in what respect the Greek sophistry was
with the Indians, and that clamourous liberty they had to
i distract one another, some of them being epicures, some
i cynics, some stoics, some again peripatetics and some of

1 See PHILOSTRATUS, Book ii, cap. 29. Ol /xb naKcuol, &c.

2 &6iSt O.T OV.

3 Ibid. Kal '6ti fib trap vfiv ravrbv rep A rjarbeiv icrrlv, olda.

4 Ibid., c. 30.

3+9

Hr

1

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

them pretended platonics. It is not to be doubted but
the scuffling and squabbling of these sectaries did at last
produce the sceptic, who finding nought in the schools
but opposition and bitterness resolved for a new course
and secured his peace with his ignorance. Phraotes
having thus returned that calumny which Apollonius
bestowed on the Indians to the bosom of this conceited
Greek gives him now an account of his own College —
I mean the Brahmins — with the excellent and wholesome
severity of their discipline. And here I cannot but
observe the insolence of Tyaneus, who being a mere
stranger in the Indies notwithstanding runs into a positive
absurdity, and before he has conversed with the inhabitants
concludes them no philosophers. These bad manners of
his I could — and perhaps not unjustly — derive from the
customary arrogance of his countrymen, whose kindness
to their own issue distinguished not the Greeks and the
sages. But the rest of the world they discriminated with
a certain sheep-mark of their own and branded them with
the name of barbarians. How much an aspersion this is
we shall quickly understand if we attend the prince in his
discourse : for thus he instructs Apollonius :

“ Amongst us Indians ” — saith he — <c there are but few
admitted to philosophy, and this is the manner of their
election. At the age of eighteen years the person to be
elected comes to the River Hyphasis 1 and there meets
with those wise men for whose sake even you, Apollonius,
are come into these parts. There he doth publicly
profess a very ardent desire and affection to philosophy,
for such as are otherwise disposed are left to their own
liberty, to follow what profession they please. This done,
the next consideration is whether he be descended from
honest parents or no ; and here they look back even to
three generations, that by the disposition and quality of
the ancestors they may guess at those of the child. If

1 Otherwise, Hypasis or Hypanis, a supposed boundary of Alexander’s
world-conquests.

35°

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

they find them to have been men of a known integrity,
then they proceed to his admission : but first they try him
and prove him with several temptations — for example,
whether he be naturally modest or rathe1* acts a counter¬
feit bashfulness for a time, being otherwise impudent and
lascivious ; whether he be sottish and gluttonous or no ;
whether he be of an insolent, bold spirit, and may prove
refractory and disobedient to his tutors. Now those that
are appointed to examine him have the skill to read his
qualities in his countenance, for the eyes discover most
of men’s manners, and in the brows and cheeks there are
many excellent indicia whereby wise men, and such as are
skilled in the mysteries of Nature, may discover our minds
and dispositions, as images are discovered in a glass.” 1
And certainly since philosophy amongst the Indians is
had in very great honour, it is necessary that those who
would know the secrets of it should be tempted and proved
by all possible trials before ever they be admitted. This
was then the discipline of the Brahmins and indeed of all
the Magi in the election and proof of their pupils.

But all this was news to Apollonius, and therefore he
asks Phraotes if these wise men, mentioned in his dis¬
course, were of the same order as those who did some¬
time meet Alexander the Great and had. some conference
with him concerning heaven ; 2 for it seems they were
astrologers. To this the Prince answers that these planet-
mongers were the Oxydracse,3 who were a people dis¬
posed to the wars.4 “ And for knowledge ” — saith he —
they make a great profession of it, but indeed they know
nothing that is excellent. But he proceeds : 6 “ Those
wise men who are truly such dwell between the River
Hyphasis and Ganges, into which place Alexander never
came, not that he durst not attempt it ; but as I think ” —
.saith the Prince — “-the reverence due to their mysteries

1 Ibid. It should be understood that Vaughan’s rendering is by way of
paraphrase. 2 Ibid., c. 33. n epl rod ovpavov. 3 ’O^Spaicat.

4 ~2,o<piav T€ /jL€7cix*tpl(Ta6os (patr'iv , ovSev xPV(rT^t' eltidres.

5 Ol $e arcxvSis crocpol, &C.

351

The IV orks of Th omas V aughan

kept him off.”1 To this he adds that Alexander knew
the River Hyphasis was passable and that he might with
ease beleaguer the city, wherein these Magi did dwell.2
“ But their towers ” — saith he — “ had he brought with
him a thousand such soldiers as Achilles was, and three
thousand such as Ajax, he could never have taken it.”
To this he gives his reason, namely, that the Magi did not
make any sallies to beat off their enemies, but keeping
quietly within their gates they destroyed them with
thunder and lightning. Here was a story might have
startled Apollonius, who knew not the power of gun¬
powder ; but in these our days there is nothing more
familiar and credible.

But, notwithstanding, the improvements of this fatal
invention are not known even to the present generations,
for the pyrography of Cornelius Agrippa and the powder
of Friar Bacon were never yet brought to the field. And
now let us hear the Friar himself, who, discoursing of
several wonderful experiments, tell us, amongst the rest,
of a secret composition which, being formed into pills or
little balls and then cast up into the air, would break out
into thunders and lightnings more violent and horrible than
those of Nature. “ Over and above these ” — saith he —
“ are other marvels of Nature, for reports like thunder
and lightning can be caused in the air, more horrible by
far than are those which occur normally. For a small
quantity of prepared matter — say, about the size of one’s
thumb — can produce a terrific sound and generate vivid
lightning. This can be done after several manners, by
any of which a city or an army may be destroyed. These
are strange effects, given knowledge of their proper use,
their material and porportion.” 3

1 Philostratus says nothing of the kind. His words are: “Not from
any fears of the consequence, but from the omens being, as I suppose,
unpropitious.” ’AAA.’ oJ/xai ra lepa air ea"f]/xr]V€y avTM.

2 ’AAA a tt]v -ye, Tvpaiy.

3 Prceter vero hcec sunt alia stupenda Nature v, nam so?ii velut , tonitrfis
et coruscatio?ies possunt fieri in aere , imo majori horrore quam ilia quee

352

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

*

Thus he : but let us return to Apollonius, for now he
trots like a novice to the River Hyphasis and carries
with him a commendatory letter to the Brahmins, having
requested the Prince to tell them he was a good boy.1
Here these admirable eastern magicians present him with
such rarities as in very truth he was not capable of.
First of all they shew him — as Philostratus describes it —
a certain azure or sky-coloured water, and this tincture
was extremely predominant in it, but with much light
and brightness. This strange liquor, the sun striking
on it at noon, attracted the beams or splendour to itself
and did sink downwards, as if coagulated with the heat,
but reflected to the eyes of the beholders a most beautiful
rainbow. Here we have a perfect description of the
philosopher’s Mercury, but there is something more
behind. Apollonius confesseth how the Brahmins told
him afterwards that this water was a certain secret water 2
and that there was hid under it or within it -a blood-red
earth.3 In a word, they told him that none might drink
or taste of that liquor, neither was it drawn at all for any
ordinary uses. After this most mysterious water they
shew him also a certain mysterious fire,4 and here for my
part I do not intend to comment. From this fire he is
brought to certain tubs, or some such vessels, whereof
one is called the vessel of rain and the other the vessel of
winds — all which are most deep and excellent allegories.
But these rarities imply no more than the rudiments of
magic. Let us now come to the Medicine itself and the
admirable effects thereof.

“ The Brahmins” — saith Apollonius — “ anointed their

fiunt per Naturam. Nam modica materia adaptata , scilicet ad quanti-
tatem unius pollicis somtm facit horribilem et coruscationem ostendit
vehementem ; et hoc fit nuiltis modis, quibus civitas aut exercitus des-
truatur. Mira sunt hcec si quis sciret uti ad plenum in debitd quantitate
et materia.

1 Ibid., c. 41. The introductory letter of Phraotes describes Apollonius
as “ a man famed for wisdom.”

2 Ibid., Book iii, C. 14* ' AirhppipTOV 8e t b vScvp.

3 'Qs (rapSapaxivr]. 4 Ibid.

353

23

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

heads with a gummy medicine,1 and this made their
bodies to steam at the pores and sweat in that abundance
as if ” — saith he — “ they had purged themselves with
fire.” This is enough to prove them philosophers.
And now let us see what kind of habitation they had
and how much a parallel it is to that place or dwelling
of R. C. which his followers call Locus Sancti Spiritus .2
“ The wise men ” — saith Apollonius — cc dwelt on a little
hill or mount, and on the hill there rested always a cloud,
in which the Indians housed themselves ” — for so the
word signifies — “and here did they render themselves
visible or invisible at their own will and discretion.” 3
This secret of invisibility was not known to the Dutch
boor nor to his plagiary, the author of The Manna ; but
the Fraternity of R. C. can move in this white mist.
“ Whosoever would communicate with us must be able
to see in this light, or us he will never see — unless by
our own will.”4

But Tyaneus tells us something more, namely, that
the Brahmins themselves did not know whether this hill
was compassed about with walks or had any gates that did
lead to it or no ; for the mist obstructed all discoveries.
Consider what you read, for thus somebody writes con¬
cerning the habitation of R. C. “ I beheld on a day the
Olympian towers shining by a certain stream and famous
city, which we have consecrated by the Name of the
Holy Spirit. I speak of Helicon — or double-peaked

Parnassus — wherein the steed Pegasus opened a fountain

«

1 ’HAe/cTpwSet (pap/^aKc p, a preparation of amber. Ibid., c. 17.

2 The House of the Holy Spirit was the place of assembly at which the
Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross were covenanted to meet once a year, “ or
write the cause of absence.” See Fama Fraternitatis. It is not clear
whether it was in fact the “fitting and neat habitation55 which C. R. C.
built for himself after his travels, and wherein “ he ruminated his voyage
and philosophy.55 It was that presumably which contained the vault of
C. R. C., according to his story.

3 Ibid., c. 13. *

4 Vt nobiscum autem convenias necesse est hanc lucem cernas , sine
enim hac luce impossibile est nos videre , nisi quando volumus.

354

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

of perennial water, flowing unto this day. Therein Diana
bathes ; therewith are associated Venus as a waiting-maid
and Saturn as a patient client. These are words which
will say too much to those who understand, but to the
inexpert little or nothing.” 1

But to clear the prospect a little more let us hear
Apollonius in a certain speech of his to the Egyptians,
describing this Elysium of the Brahmins.2 “ I have
seen” — saith he — “ the Brahmins of India3 dwelling on
the earth and not on the earth. They were guarded
without walls and, possessing nothing, they enjoyed all
things.” This is plain enough, and on this hill have
I also a desire to live, if it were for no other reason
but what the sophist sometimes applied to the moun¬
tains : a These first the sun salutes and last forsakes.
Who shall not love the place 'and the long days
therein ? ” 4

But of this place I will not speak any more, lest the
reader should be so mad as to entertain a suspicion that
I am of the Order. I shall now therefore proceed to the
theory of the Brahmins, and this only so far as their
history shall give me leave. I find Jarchas then seated
in his throne and about him the rest of his society,
where having first placed Apollonius in the seat royal of
Phraotes,5 Jarchas welcomes him with this unconfined
liberty. u Propound ” — said he — “ what questions thou
wilt, for thou art come to men that know all things.” 6
Here Tyaneus puts in and very wisely asks them what

1 Vidi aliquando Olympicas domos , non procul a fluviolo et civitate
nota , quas S. Spiritus vocari imaginamur. Helicon est de quo loquor ,
aut bicefs Parnassus , in quo equus Pegasus fontem aperuit perennis aquae
adhuc stillantem , in quo Diana se lavat , cui Venus ut pedissequa et
Saturnus ut anteambulo conjunguntur. Intelligenti nitnium , inexperto
minimum hoc erit dictum.

2 Phil., Bk. iii, c. 1 5.

3 5E?5<fj/ (prjaly IpSoi/s fipaxfj.avas olnovvras ini tt)s yys, kovk iP avrr)S.

4 Hos primum sol salutat , ultimosque deserit . Quis locum non amet ,
dies longiores habentem.

5 Ibid., c. 17.

6 Ibid., C. 18. ’Epwra '6 n fiovXei i rap' tzySpas yap 7 foeis tt&vto. e/S^ras.

355

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

principles the world was compounded of.1 To this the
Brahmins reply : “ It was compounded of the elements.”2

•“ Is it made then ” — saith Apollonius — “ of the four
elements ? ” “ No ” — said the great Jarchas — <c but of
five.” Here the Grecian is puzzled, “ for besides earth ”
— saith he — “ and water, air and fire I know not any¬
thing. What then is this fifth substance?” “ It is ” —
saith Jarchas — “ the ether, which is the element of spirits,
for those creatures which draw in the air are mortal, but
those which draw in the ether are immortal.”

And here I cannot but observe the gross ignorance of
* Apollonius, who being a professed Pythagorean had never
heard of the ether, that famous Pythagorean principle.
But let us come to his second question, which of all
others doth most betray his weakness and insufficiency.
He requests Jarchas to inform him which of the elements
was first made. To this absurdity the learned Brahmin
answers like himself. “ They were made ” — said he —
“ all at once ” ; and he gives this reason for it : “ because
no living creature is generated by piecemeals.” 3 This
was a wholesome and a rational tenet, for the chaos was
first made, and in that all the elements at one and the
same instant ; for the world was manifested and brought
out of the chaos like a chick out of an egg.4 To this
Apollonius replies like a pure sophister : “ And must I
think then ” — saith he — “ that the world is a living
creature?” Saith Jarchas: “Yes, verily, if you reason
rightly; for it giveth life to all things.”5 “Shall we
then” — saith Tyaneus — “call it a ' male or a female
creature?” “Both” — saith the wise Brahmin — “for
the world, being a compound of both faculties, supplies
the office of father and mother in the generation of those
things that have life.” 6

1 As a matter of fact, the first question of Apollonius was concerning
self-knowledge, the second concerning the soul, and the third respecting
pre-existence and transmigration.

2 Loc . rzV., c. 34. 3 Ibid. 4 This is a commentary of Eugenius.

0 Ibid 6 Ibid. Avto y yap avrcp, & c.

3 56

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

We are now come to Apollonius his last philosophical
query, and sorry I am that he had not the wit to pro¬
pound either more or better questions ; but we must
take them as they are. He asks Jarchas whether the
earth or the sea did exceed in quantity. To this the
Indian replies that if he only considered the Mediter¬
ranean or some other particular channel, the earth with¬
out question did exceed. “ But if you ask ” 1 — said he —
“ concerning humidity or moisture in general, then verily
the earth is much lesser than the water, for it is the water
that bears up the earth.” This indeed is sound reason
and conformable both to Scripture and Nature ; for the
very Spirit that animates and supports the universe hath
his habitation in the water.

And now I suppose it is apparent to the understanding
readers — for others I would not have — that the Brahmins
were not a fabulous, superstitious society but men of a
severe doctrine, whose principles were answerable to the
very rigour of Nature and did not wanton beyond her
laws. I could wish Apollonius had been more able to
deal with them ; but so short was he of philosophy that
he knew not what to ask them, and that ample liberty
which they gave him was all of it to no purpose. This
is clear to such as know anything out of his former
queries, which we have already mentioned. But if we
look on the rest of his problems they are most of them
but so many historical fables which he brought with him
out of Greece : and now he begins to shake his budget.
The first thing that comes out is the Martichora,2 a
monster which Mandeville could never meet withal ; and
then he questions Jarchas concerning a certain water of
the colour of gold ; 3 and this indeed might signify
something but that he understood it literally of common,
ordinary well-springs ; and therefore Jarchas tells him

1 Phil., Lib. iii, c. 37. npbs iracrav r^v vypav overlay.

2 Ma prix^pa vel Maj/Tix^pay, a monster mentioned by Aristotle in his
history of beasts. — Ibid., c. 45.

3 Ibid.

357

The IV orks of Thomas V aughan

that he never heard of his Martichora , neither was it ever
known that any fountains of golden waters did spring in
India. But this is not all. In the rear of this strange
beast march the Pigmies,1 the Sciapodes and the Macro-
cephali , to which might be added all the animals in
Lucian’s history. But — as we commonly say — there’ is
no smoke without some fire : so amongst these foreign
fables came in some Indian allegories, and probably the
Brahmin^ themselves had given them out, at once to
declare and obscure their knowledge. These allegories
are but two, and Jarchas insists much upon them, besides
a solemn acknowledgment.

“There is no reason” — said he — “but we should
believe there are such things.” 2 The first of these two
mysteries is the Pantarva, which Ficinus corruptly tran¬
scribes Pantaura ;3 and of this Apollonius desired to know
the truth — -namely, if there was such a stone at all and
whether it was enriched with so strange a magnetism
as to attract to itself all other precious stones. This
question the Brahmin satisfies experimentally, for he
had this goodly stone about him and favoured Apollonius
with the sight thereof. But for our better information
let us hear Jarchas himself describe it, for he doth it so
fully that a very ordinary capacity may go along with
him. “ This stone ” — saith he — “ is generated in certain
earthy caverns, some four yards deep, and hath in it such
abundance of spirit that in the place of its conception the
earth swells up and at last breaks with the very tumour.
But to look at this stone belongs not to every body,
for it vanisheth away unless it be extracted with all
possible caution. Only we that are Brahmins, by certain
practices of our own, can find out the Pantarva.”4

These are the words of Jarchas, where you shall
observe that he hath confounded the first and second
generation of the Stone, it being the custom of the

1 Phil., Lib. iii, c. 45. 2 Ibid., Bk. iii, c. 46. Ov xp^i ama-niv.

3 I.e Pantarba. 4 Ibid., c. 46.

358

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

philosophers never to express their mysteries distinctly.
The second birth then he hath fully and clearly
discovered, for when the philosophers’ first earth is
moistened with its own milk it swells, being impregnated
with frequent imbibitions, till at last it breaks and with
a soft heat sublimes. And then ascends the heavenly
Sulphur, being freed from his hell ; for it leaves behind
the Binarius or recremental earth,1 and is no more a
prisoner to that dross. This first, heavenly Sulphur is
commonly called stellated rock and earth of pearls ; 2 but
Raymund Lully calls it earth of earth,3 and in a certain
place he describes it thus. “ This is that Tincture ” —
saith he — “ which strips off its vile earth and clothes itself
with a nobler kind.” 4 But elsewhere prescribing some
caveats for the rorid work, he expressly mentions the
first and second Sulphurs, commonly called “ Sulphur
from Sulphurs.” 5 He saith that “ this is understood of
that earth which is not separated from the vessel, or earth
of earth.”6 This is enough to prove the affinity of the
Pantarva and the Philosophers’ Stone. ,

Let us now return to Jarchas, for he ’proceeds in his
instructions, and Apollonius hears him to no purpose.
“ The Pantarva ” — saith he — “ after night discovers a
fire as bright as day, for it is fiery and shining ; but if
you look on it in the daytime it dazzles the eye with
certain gleams or coruscations.” 7 Whence this light
came and what it was the Brahmin was not ignorant of.
“ That light ” 8 — said he — “ which shines in it is a spirit
of admirable power, for it attracts to itself all things that

1 Terra damnata. This is the caput mortuum , explained in a previous
note, called also the faeces left by substance after its purification.

2 Petra stellata et terra margaritiarum.

3 Terra terrce.

4 Hcec est tinctura qua a vili terra se spoliat et alia multum nobili
reinduit se.

5 Sulphura de sulphuribus.

6 Hoc intelligitur de terra qua non est separata a vase, de terra terra.

7 Loc. cit., c. 46.

8 Tb 5e tv avTri <poos 7rvsvfJ.d icrriv app^rov tcrx^os.

359

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

*

are near it.” And here he tells Tyaneus that if precious
stones were cast into the sea or into some rivfer, and this
too confusedly, as being far scattered and dispersed one
from another, yet this magical stone — being let down
after them — would bring them again together ; for they
would all move towards the Pantarva and cluster under
it, like a swarm of bees. This is all he tells him ; but
in conclusion he produceth his Pantarva. In plain
terms he shewed him the Philosophers’ Stone and the
miraculous effects thereof.1 The second secret which
Apollonius stumbled on, for he knew it not as a secret,
was the gold of the Gryphons,2 and this also Jarchas doth
acknowledge, but I shall forbear to speak of it, for I hold
it not altogether convenient.

It is time now to dismiss Apollonius and his Brahmins,
and this I will do ; but I shall first prevent an objection,
though a sorry one, for ignorance makes use of all tools.
It will be said perhaps I have been too bold with
Apollonius, who — in the opinion of many men, and such
as would be thought learned — was a very great philo¬
sopher. To this I answer that I question not any man’s
learning : let them think of themselves as they please,
and if they can, let them be answerable to their thoughts.
But as for Apollonius, I say, the noise of his miracles,
like those of Xavier, may fill some credulous ears, and
this sudden ’larum may procure him entertainment ; but
had these admirers perused his history they had not
betrayed so much weakness as to allow him any sober

1 Loc. cit ., c. 46. The Pantarva is brought forward in the first instance
as a magnetic stone, but this quality is never ascribed to the stone of
alchemy, though — according to Sendivogius — sophic Mercury has an
attractive power respecting solar and lunar rays. The Pantarva is also
said to have a vanishing tendency, which again does not characterise the
Lapis philo sophorum. Vaughan is in fact misled by a very shadowy
analogy. There is no need to say that the Philosophers’ Stone and its
particular operations are not mentioned by Philostratus.

2 /.<?., griffins. They were supposed to dig up certain stones with their
beaks, break them in pieces and exhibit the gold contained therein. —
Ibid. , c. 48.

360

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

character. It is true Philostratus attributes many strange
performances to him, as that he should raise the dead,
free himself from prison and shake off* his chains with as~
much divinity as St Peter himself ;x nay, that pleading
with Domitian in a full senate he should suddenly vanish
away and be translated in a moment from Rome to
Puteoli.1 2 Truly these are great effects ; but if we con¬
sider only what Philostratus himself will confess we shall
quickly find that all these things are but inventions.
For in the beginning of his romance, where he would
give his readers an account of his inventions, and from
what hands he received them, he tells us that Damis, who
was Apollonius his fellow-traveller, did write his life and
all the occurrences thereof ; 3 but those commentaries of
Damis — saith he — were never published by Damis him¬
self, only a friend of his, a somebody,4 a certain familiar
of Damis did communicate them to Julia the Queen.5
And here Philostratus tells me that this Queen com¬
manded him to transcribe these commentaries. It seems
then that they were originally written in the Greek
and Philostratus is a mere transcriber,6 and no author.
This I cannot believe, for Damis was an Assyrian and —
as he himself confesseth — a very ignorant person, and
altogether illiterate. But meeting with Apollonius and
conversing with the Greeks,7 he also was almost made a
Grecian, but not altogether — not so learned a Grecian as
to write histories, and in a style like that of Philostratus.
But this is not all. Our author tells us of one Moer-
agenes, who had formerly written the life of Apollonius
in four books ; but this fellow — saith he — was ignorant
of the performances or miracles of Tyaneus. And what

1 The reference is to ACTS, xii, 7. 2 Phil., Book viii, c.io.

3 Ibid., Book i, c. 3. Also c. 19.

4 Ilpoa'fjKwv tis, &C. 5 ’IovAla rfj BacriAiSi.

6 The original reads “ transcriber, ” which is presumably a typo¬

graphical error, though it may have been so written by Vaughan in

his satire.

7 Ibid., iii, C. 43. ‘'EAA-qcr'i t« ’'EAAtjv vn r’ avrov yivhfxfuos.

361

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

follows this ignorance ? We must not therefore believe
Moeragenes.1 And why not, I beseech you ? Because
forsooth he lived near if not in the days of Apollonius
but never heard of those monstrous fables which
Philostratus afterwards invented.2 We must then believe
Philostratus himself, for he is not the familiar friend but

* f

the familiar spirit3 of Apollonius. It was he indeed that
wrought all these wonders, for Apollonius himself never
wrought any.

Now for the learning of this Tyaneus — since it is the
pleasure of some men to think him learned — I must
confess for my p^rt I cannot find it. The philosophy
that he pretended to was that of Pythagoras, for thus he'
rants it to Yardanes the Babylonian. “ 1 am a master ”- —
saith he — “ of the wisdom of Pythagoras the Samian.4
He taught me the true form of worshipping the gods
and who of them are visible, who invisible, and how I
may come to speak with them.” How true this is we
may easily know, if we look back on his education. His
tutor in the Pythagorean principles was one Euxenus, a
notable sot, and a man ignorant, as Philostratus tells us.5
“ He was” — saith our author — aan epicure in his course
of life ; and for his learning, he could only repeat some
sentences of Pythagoras but did not understand them ” ;
and therefore he compares him to certain mimic birds,
who are taught their a farewell ” 6 and their “ Propitious
Zeus,” 7 but know not what the words signify. Now,
what instructions he was like to receive from this man
let any indifferent reader judge. But we have something
more to say ; for if Apollonius when he was at Babylon
could converse with the gods, why did he afterwards

1 Phil., Lib. i, c. 3.

2 Philostratus says that he happened to meet with the four books of one
Meragenes, but they were not of “great value” because of the writer’s
ignorance.

3 Upo(rr]K(tiv ns.

4 Ibid., C. 32* 2o</ua 8e i/uLo\ Tlvdaydpov, 2ap.iov arSpd $, &C.

5 Ibid., c. 7.

6 ES irparrf. 7 Z evs 'iAtus.

362

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

desire to be taught of men ? For when he comes to
India he requests the Brahmins to teach him the art of
divination. Certainly had he‘ been familiar with angels
and spirits he had not troubled them with such a
question. These indeed are the slips of Philostratus,
who had the art of lying but wanted the art of memory.
In another place he tells us that Apollonius understood
all the languages that men did speak1 and — which is
more miraculous — even their secret cogitations. This is
much indeed, but shortly afterwards he forgets these
strange perfections ; for when he brings him to Phraotes
— that serious eastern Prince — there doth he use an
interpreter ; for Tyaneus — who formerly understood all
languages — could not understand the language of the
Prince,2 *and so far was he from knowing his secret
thoughts that he did not know in how many languages he
could express those thoughts. For when the Prince was
pleased to express himself in the Greek tongue Tyaneus
was quite dejected and did much wonder how he came
to be a master of that dialect.

Now if any man will say that the^ Brahmins did impart
their mysteries to him, it is apparent enough they did
not.3 This is it which even Damis tells us, for Apollonius
- — saith he — requested nothing of the Brahmins but
certain divinatory tricks, by which he might foretell
things to come. And here Jarchas takes occasion to
discourse with him about revelations, for he speaks not
of any prognosticating knacks which this Greek did look
after. He tells him then that he judged him a most
happy man who could obtain any foreknowledge at the
hands of God and preach that to the ignorant which
he did already foresee.4 As for rules to divine by he
prescribes not any, for it was too gross an error for such

1 Uacras olSa (pwuas avOpctmwv. See Book i, c. 19, among other places.

2 Ibid., ii, c. 26.

3 Jarchas promises Apollonius the full possession of all his knowledge.
— Ibid., iii, 16. See also c. 41.

4 Ibid., c. 42.

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The TV 'irks of Thomas V aughan

a philosopher as himself. He only tells him that he
should lead a pure life and keep himself spotless from
the flesh. One passage indeed there is which I cannot
omit. Jarchas informs Apollonius that of all gifts im¬
parted to man by revelation cc the chiefest ” — said he
— cc is the gift of healing, or Medicine/’ 1 But this
heavenly and most beneficial truth Apollonius was not
sensible of, for he was so great a stranger to the secrets
of Nature that he did not know what to ask for. For
my own part, if I durst think him a philosopher, I should
seat him with the Stoics ; for he was a great master of
moral severities, and this is all the character I can give
him. As for Philostratus, if we were not even with him
I should think he had much abused us ; for when he
penned his history he allowed us no discretion to come
after him. I could be sorry for some absurdities he
hath fastened on Jarchas, did not the principles of that
glorious Brahmin refute them. What they are I shall
not tell you,2 for I am confined to a preface and cannot
proportion my discourse to the deserts of my subject.

And here some critic may drop his discipline and bid
me face about, for I am wide of my text — the Society
of R. C. I have indeed exceeded in my service to the
Brahmins ; but in all that there was no impertinency.
I did it to shew the conformity of the old and new
professors ; and this is so far from digression I can think
it near a demonstration. For when we have evidence
that magicians have been it is proof also that they may
be, since it cannot be denied that precedents exclude
impossibility. I hold it then worth our observation
that even those Magi who came to Christ Himself
came from the East. But as we cannot prove they were

1 PHIL., Lib. iii, C. 44* M eyiffrov Se rb tt)s IdTpiKrjs dcHpou.

2 This is one of Vaughan’s tricks in the lesser arts of mystery. The
subject-matter of the discourses between Jarchas and Apollonius have
been fairly set forth, and we can estimate their measures without referring
to Philostratus. They enabled Apollonius to write four books on astrology
and one on sacrifices — that is, according to the romance.

3 6 4-

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

Brahmins so neither can we prove they were not. Now
if any man will be so cross as to contend for the negative
he shall have my thanks for the advantage he allows
me ; *for then it must follow that the East afforded more
magical societies than one. But this point I need not
insist on, for the learned will not deny but wisdom and
light were first manifested in the same parts, namely, in
the East, where the first man planted. And hence did
the world receive not only their religion but their
philosophy, for custom hath distinguished those two.
From this fountain also — this living oriental one — did
the Brothers of R. C. draw their wholesome waters ;
for their founder received his principles at Damcar in
Arabia, as their Fama will instruct you at large. It was
not amiss then if I spent my hour in that bright region
and paid a weak gratitude to those primitive benefactors ;
for ’tis a law with me “ that he who draws the water
should adorn the well.” 1

But that I may come at last to the subject intended, I
shall confess, for my part, I have no acquaintance with
this Fraternity as to their persons ; but their doctrine I
am not so much a stranger to.2 And here, for the reader’s
satisfaction, I shall speak something of it, not that I would
discover or point at any particulars, for that’s a kindness
— as they themselves profess — which they have not for
any man till they first eat a bushel of salt with him.3
They tell us then that the fire and Spirit of God did
work upon the earth and the water ; and out of them
did the Spirit extract a pure, clear substance, which they
call the terrestrial heaven. In this heaven the Spirit —
say they — seated Flimself, impressing Flis image therein.
And out of this heavenly, clarified extract, impregnated
with the influx and image of the Spirit, was formed that
most noble creature whom we call man. This first matter

1 Qui aquam haurit f uteum coronat.

2 The second affirmation of Vaughan on this subject, so that there may
be no doubt thereon.

3 Nisi absumfito salts modio .

3 6S

The IV 'irks of Thomas Vaughan

of man, as they describe it, was a liquid, transparent salt,
a certain bright earth, purified by a supernatural agent
and tempered with a strange, unctuous humidity, en¬
lightened with all the tinctures of the sun and stars.
It was and is the minera of all creatures ; and this Society
doth acknowledge it to be their very basis and the first
gate that leads to all their secrets. This earth or water —
call it which you will, for it is both — naturally produceth
their agent ; but it comes not to their hands without art.
By their agent 1 understand their fire, commonly called
Male of Water, Vulcan, Invisible Sun, Son of the Sun,
Lower Star, Hidden Smith, Immanent — with a thousand
other names.1 It is, sans all metaphors, “ a divine fire
and nutriment of all,” 2 and that I may speak truth, even
in the phrase of Aristotle, it is “ a very divine principle
and conformed to the starry elements.” 3 This is that fire
which Zoroaster calls “ the fiery soul of the Kosmos and
a living fire.” 4 In plain terms, it is the tincture of the
matrix, a fiery, radiant soul, that calls up another soul
like itself ; for it makes the anima of the Mercury which
is almost drowned in a cold and phlegmatic Lethe.

And here, Reader, let it be thy endeavour to under¬
stand the philosophers, for they tell us that God at first
created the chaos and afterwards divided it into three
portions. Of the first He made the spiritual world,
of the second the visible heavens and their lights, but
the third and worst part was appointed for this sub¬
lunary building. Out of this coarse and remaining,
portion He extracted the elemental quintessence or First
Matter of all earthly things, and of this the four elements
— for there is such a bold arithmetic — were made. Now,

1 Mas Aquas , Vulcanus , Sol invisibilis , Films Solis , A strum inferius ,
Faber occultus , Intrmsecus. The symbolical names applied to Hermetic
Fire are by no means so many as those of the First Matter, which fill ten
columns in the Dictionnaire Mytho-HTrmetique.

2 Tb Ouov Trvp, nal iravrorpocpos.

3 ®ei6rtpov (Ttoix^Iov, nal avdXoyov rep rwu &<rrpoi)v crroixVio}.

4 5E/X7TUp06i5V TOV KkcrpLOV 'pVX’hv, Kal Trvp OT](p6pOV.

366

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

Reader, guess — if thou dost know the Matter — for it may
be thou art one of those who conceive themselves to be
somebody. I tell thee this theory is Raymund Lully’s,
and if thou canst make nothing of it I can, without a
figure, tell thee how wise thou art. There are in the
world as many sorts of salts as there are species, and the
salts differ as the species do, namely, essentially ; for
the specific forms lie in the salt. Now learn of me that
there is no true physic but what is in salt ; for salt was
never known to putrefy nay, it hinders putrefaction and
corruption in all things, and what hinders corruption
hinders all diseases. Now, it is evident to all the world
that salt hinders corruption and a solution of the parts,
and this not only in living things but even in dead
bodies ; for if they be seasoned with salt they are pre¬
served and corruption comes not at them. It is to be
observed that Vergil in the cure of ./Eneas brings in his
mother Venus with a panacea, or an Universal Medicine:

This Venus brings, in clouds involved, and brews
Th’ extracted liquor with ambrosian dews
And odorous panacee.1

This word is much abused by certain alchemists — as
they call themselves ; but Servius upon the place tells us
it is an admirably devised name,2 and he observes — out
of Lucretius — that the panacea was salt. It is true that
if we could putrefy salt it would discover all the mysteries
of Nature, for it hath all the tinctures in it. But to
destroy this substance is a hard task, for he that would
do it must do something more than death can do — for
even her prerogative comes not so far. Howsoever, it
cannot be denied but some wise men have attained to
the putrefaction of salts ; but this key they received from

1 Occulte medic ans, spargitque salubres
A mbrosice succos et odoriferam panaceam.

The translation is Dryden’s, and it is to be noted that the herb brought
by Venus was “ healing dittany.”

2 No men mire compositum.

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The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

God, and it is the great secret of their Art. What I
admire most in it is this — that when it is killed it dies
not but recovers to a better life, which is a very strange
privilege. On the contrary, if some animal dies, if an
herb withers, or if some metal be calcined and the parts
thereof truly separated, we can never restore them again.
But this mystical substance, this root of the world, if you
bring his parts together after they are separated, they will
not be quiet but run from one complexion to another,
from this colour to that — as from green to red, from red
to black, from black to a million of colours. And these
miraculous alterations will not cease till he hath worked
out his own resurrection and hath clearly brought himself
to a supernatural temperature. I say then that salt is the
true grain, the seed not only of this world but of the
next ; and it is the mystery that God hath made.1 It is
a living water, wherein there dwells a Divine Fire, and
this Fire binds the parts thereof to himself, coagulates
them and stops their flux. And salt is the water that
wets not the hand. This fire is the life, and therefore
it hinders death. Nay, it is such a preservative against
it that the very gross body of salt prevents corruption
wheresoever it comes. But if any man fully know the
power of this fire, let him wisely and effectually dislodge
him. Let him destroy his habitation, and then he shall
see what course this artist will take to repair his own
house. Do not think now that I speak of common salts,
though I confess they are great medicines — if rightly
prepared.

I told thee formerly there were several sorts of salts ;

1 According to Peter John Fabre, sophic Salt is the key of the Art and
is scarcely mentioned by old writers on alchemy because of their anxiety
to conceal it. The secret virtues of Sulphur and Mercury are manifested
thereby. Nothing can be effected in its absence, so far as the Great
Work is concerned. It contains the sun and moon, all stars and all
the heavens. Fabre dwells also on the importance of its solution and
putrefaction. See Mangetus : Bibliotheca Chemica Curio sa, Tomus i,
pp. 296, 297. There is no title to the tract, which claims to be printed
from a MS.

368

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

and here I would have thee study, lest thy labours should
end with that complaint of the chemist in Sendivogius,
who “ bewailed the lost Stone and his folly in not asking
Saturn what manner of Salt was this, seeing that there
are many varieties of this substance.”1

I shall advise thee then to consider the several divisions
of the chaos which I have formerly mentioned out of
Raymund Lully ; for the Matter as it is there described
is not subject to many complexions, and therefore thy
mistakes cannot be many. And now let us touch at the
treasures of our saltish liquor and our liquid salt. Saith
one : “ Let us seek after that grade of spirit or water
which is, so to speak, more sensible and much more
familiar to us ; with zealous investigation let us follow
the footsteps of the aerial nature, in the hiddenness
whereof are treasured the great wonders, namely, angels
of all degrees, essential forms of inferior things, the
radical humidity of all that lives, the nutriment of thick
fire, admirable portents of meteors, hurricanes from the
four quarters and innumerable other mysteries.” 2

And now perhaps thou dost begin to bless thyself, for
is it possible — say’st thou — that any bodily substance
should inclose such mysteries as these ? In this, my
friend, thou hast thy liberty. Trouble not thyself about
it, for thy faith will add nothing to it and thy incredulity
cannot take anything from it. This only thou shalt do :
be pleased to give way to my sauciness, for — I must tell
thee — I do not know that thing which 1 may call im¬
possible. I am sure there are in Nature powers of all

1 Lafiidem amissum deplorabat et maxime condolebat , quod Saturnum
non i?i terroga verity quale Sal hoc fuerit cum tot varia genera salium
reperiantur.

2 Veniamus , quceso , ad ilium spiritus , seu aquce gradum , qui nobis
sensibilior magisque familiaris est , ?iaturceque aerece vestigia diligenti
inquisitione scrutemur , in cujus occulto mirabilia delitescunt : videlicet ,
a7igeli omnium generum, formes rerum inferiorum essentificoe , humidum
radicale cujitsque viventis , ignis spissi nutrimentum , admirabiles meteo-
rorum apparitiones , ventorum cujusque anguli violentce irruptiones , et
infinita alia mysteria.

369

24

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

sorts and answerable to all desires ; and even those very
powers are subject to us. Behold, I will declare unto
thee their generation and their secret descents even to
this earth. It is most certain that God works by the
ideas of His own mind, and the ideas dispense their seals
and communicate them daily to the matter. Now the
Anima Mundi hath in the fixed stars her particular forms
or seminal conceptions, answerable to the ideas of the
Divine Mind ; and here doth she first receive those
spiritual powers and influences which originally proceed
from God. From this place they are conveyed to the
planets, especially to the sun and moon ; and these two
great lights impart them to the air, and from the air they
pass down to the belly or matrix of the earth in prolific
spirited winds and waters. Seeing then that the visible
heavens receive the brightness of the spiritual world and
this earth the brightness of the visible heavens, why
may not we find something on earth which takes in this
brightness and comprehends in itself the powers of the
two superior worlds ? Now if there be such a subject
to be found, I suppose it will not be denied but the
powers of the angelical and celestial worlds are very
strange powers, and what that is which they cannot do
is hard to determine. The subject then is the salt I
have spoken of formerly. It is the body of the universal
spirit — -O^jULa kcu alOepwSes a-wiua tov ttXchttikov \6yov. It
is the sperm of Nature which she prepares for her own
light — as if we should prepare oil for a lamp. A
strange substance it is but very common, and of some
philosophers most properly called “green and admirable
salt.” 1 And here it will not be amiss to speak something
of the Kabalist’s Green Line,2 a mystery not rightly
apprehended even by some of the Mekkubalim ; 3 but
certainly the modern Rabbins know it not at all. It

1 Saliya virens et mirabilis.

2 See the Conclusiones Kabalisticce of Picus, in the seventh of which
heaven is said to be that “green line which encircles all things. ”

3 The Keepers of the Secret Tradition in Israel.

37°

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

is the last Midah 1 or propriety of the Sephiroth , for it
receives and includes all the influences of the Sephirotical
order. It compasseth the heavens and in them the earth,
like a green rainbow or one vast sphere of viridity, and
from this viridity the Divine Influences are showered
down, like rain through the ether, into the globes of the
fixed stars.2 For what the air is to the globe of the earth
such is the ether to the globes of the stars ; and here lies
a secret of the Mekkubalim ; for they tell us there is a
double Venus in a twofold air.3 But of this enough.

I will now speak of the philosophers’ secret and blessed
viridity, which is to be seen and felt here below. It is
the Proteus of the old poets ; for if the spirit of this
green gold be at liberty — which will not be till the body
is bound — then will he discover all the essences of the
universal centre.

There many shapes shall mock and mouths of beasts,

A horrid swine emerge, the tiger black,

Mail’d dragon, tawny-headed lioness.

Midst flames shall acrid sound break forth, in chains
He perishes or falls in shallow wells ;

All is*transform’d in miracles of things,

Appalling fire, wild beast and melting flood.4

But this is poetry. Let us now hear the same scene
described by a most excellent and withal a severe professor
of philosophy. “ But after the spirit has failed ” — says he
— “ through the perishable courses amidst which it is dis¬
persed, it is presently purged from all impurity, and

1 A virtue and influence.

2 This is not true Kabalism, by which I mean the Zoharic tradition, but
probably the personal reverie of a rabbinical Jew.

3 In duplici aere.

4 Turn varies illudent species atque ora ferarum :

Fiet enim subito fus horridus atraque tigris ,

Squamosusque draco et fulva cervice lecena.

Aut acrem jlanimis sonitum dabit, atque ita vinclis
Excidet , aut in aquas tenues dilapsus abibit.

Om?iia transformat sese in 7niracula rerum ,

Ignemque horribilemque feram, fiuviumque liquentem.

371

The IV irks of Thomas Vaughan

changes into innumerable forms, here into herb and there
into stone, or perchance into some extraordinary animal ;
but now and then into a clod, a pearl, some gem or metal ;
and sweetly glittering with blushing flames, it passes con¬
tinually through a myriad changes of colours, and lives
always an operator and magus of prodigies, never weary¬
ing with the toil thereof but ever young in strength and
energy.” 1

Thus he ; and now, Reader, I must tell thee that all
these miracles grow out of a certain earth, a soft red clay
which is to be found everywhere. It may be that thou
art much troubled at these appearances which I have
mentioned ; but what wilt thou say to lamblichus, who
tells us seriously that this earth will attract angels — I
mean, good spirits ? For so did he. But let us hear
this auditor of Anebo, for thus he writes from Egypt
to Porphyrius. “ The first and most ancient of sub¬
stances ” 2 — he says — “ shines forth also in the last, and

1 Ubi vero spiritus excessit e fragilities^ per quos sparsus erat , meatibus ,
estque ab omni prorsum colluvie purgatus'. in infinitas sese attollit formas j
modo in herb am , modo in lapidem , aut in insolitum quoddam animal ;
interdum in cequor , ant unionem , aut gemmam , aut metallumj dulceque
rubentibus jam flammis emicans , in multas statim colorum myriades
transit , vivitque portentorum semper effector ac magus , isto nequaquam
fatiscens labore , sed vigore ac viribus indies adolescens.

2 Omnium prinia et antiquissima entia in ultimis quoque subrutilant ,
immaterialiaque principia materialibus adsunt. Nemo itaque miretut
si quam materiam esse dicimus puram , atque divinam. Nam ipsa
quoque materia , quum ab Opifice , Patreque omnium facta sit , me?ito
ferfectionem sui quandam acquisivit , aptam ad deos suscipiendos.
Quinetiam quum nihil prohibet superiora lumen suum ad. inferiora
dijjundere , neque igitur materiam permittunt expertem fore superiorum .
Quapropter quantumeunque materice perfectum ei purum est , atque
deiforme , ad deorum susceptionem non est ineptum. Nam quum
oportuerit etiam terrena nullo modo divince communionis expertia fore ,
ipsa quoque terra divinam quandam portionem suscepit , ad capiendos
deos sufficientem. Non ergo fas est omnem materiam detestari , sed solam
quee diis fuerit aliena. Profriam vero ad illos decet eligere , utpote quee
consentire possit. Neque enim' aliter terrenis locis, et hominibus hie
habitantibus , possession portione ulla ex divinis contingere potest , nisi
tale quiddamprius j actum fuerit fundamentum. Arcanis itaque sermoni-
bus credendum est, testantibus a deis per beata spectacular tractatam fuisse
Materiam Quandam. Hcec ergo illis ipsis tradentibus cognata est. Palis
ergo Materia deos excitat , ut se demons tr ant ^ &^c.

372

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

%

immaterial principles are present in those which are
material. No one should marvel therefore that we affirm
such matter to be pure and even divine. For when it
was made by the Artificer and Father of all, it rightly
assumed to itself a certain perfection, suitable to be
accepted by the gods. Moreover, there is nothing which
hinders higher things from dispensing their light to those
which are below, and they do not suffer matter to be
destitute of virtues from above. For this reason, in so
far as matter is perfect and pure it is not unworthy the
reception of the gods. And seeing that it is in no wise
meet for the earthly to be bereaved of divine communion,
so also the earth receives a certain divine portion, sufficient
to entertain the gods. It is not lawful therefore to detest
matter altogether but that aspect of it only which is alien
to the gods. It is right to select what is suitable to them,
as something which can be consented unto. But no
possession or portion of divine things can befall terrestrial
places and men dwelling therein unless such foundation
be laid in the first place. It is to be believed on the faith
of secret teachings bearing witness to the gods in the
blessed pageants that the mystery concerning a certain
matter has been handed down and that the same is known
therefore to those who transmitted it. Such matter
moves the gods to manifest themselves,” &c.

These are the words of lamblichus in that profound
discourse of his, where he gives Porphyrius an account
of the Egyptian, Chaldean and Assyrian Mysteries. I
know the philosophical earth discovers not those forms I
have spoken of in the common, ordinary process, which
if any man knows I shall not therefore call him a philo¬
sopher. There are several ways to use this mystery, both
first and last, and some of them may be communicated,
but some not. To conclude, I say that this clarified earth
is the stage of all forms, for here they are manifested like
images in a glass ; and when the time of their manifesta¬
tion is finished they retreat into that centre out of which

373

■The Works of Thomas Vaughan

at first they came. Hence came all vegetables, all minerals
and all the animals in the world — even man himself, with
all his tumult and principality. This soft clay is the
mother of them all ; and what the divine Vergil sometime
said of Italy may be very properly applied to this our
saturnine and sovereign earth.

Our quarries, deep in earth, were famed of old
For veins of silver and for ore of gold.

Th’ inhabitants themselves their country grace ;

Hence rose the Marsian and Sabellian race,

Strong-limb’d and stout, and to the wars inclined,

And hard Ligurians — a laborious kind.

And Volscians arm’d with iron-headed darts.

Besides — an offspring of undaunted hearts — -
The Decii, Marii, great Camillus, came
From hence, and greater Scipios’ double name.

And mighty Caesar, whose victorious arms
To farthest Asia carry fierce alarms,

Avert unwarlike Indians from his Rome,

Triumph abroad, secure our peace at home.

Hail sweet Saturnian soil, of fruitful grain
Great parent ! 1

Thus, Reader, have I endeavoured to produce some
reasons for those strange effects whereof this Society hath
made a public profession. I did it not as a kindness to
them, for I pen no plots, neither do I desire their
familiarity. I am indeed of the same faith with them,
and I have thus prefaced because I had the impudence
to think it concerned me as much as them. And verily
it is true that wheresoever I meet my own positions there
I have an interest, and I am as much bound to the

1 Hcec eadem argenti rivos aerisque metalla

Ostendit venis atque aurofilurima fiuxit.

Hcec genub acre virum , Marsos , fiubemque Sabellam ,
Assuetumque malo Ligurem Volscosque verutos
Eytulit : hcec Decios , Marios magnosque Camillos.

Salve , magna parens frugu?n , Satur?iia tellus ,

Magna virum. — Georgies, ii.

The translation which I have given in the text is that of Dryden.

374

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

defence of that author as I am to my own. Now for the
ground here laid : it is the Art of Water, the philosopher’s
Humid Key1 and this Society’s parergon. I dare not
speak anything of their metaphysical mystery, but I can
tell thee it is not the same with the Philosopher’s Stone,2
either in form or matter ; and let this satisfy thee. I
know some dispositions are so cross to these principles
I might write again to excuse what I have written ; but
this 1 am resolved not to do. If thou art a malicious
reader and dost think it too much because it suits not
with thy own jingles, I must tell thee thou art none of
my peers ; for I have known some sciences which thou
hast never heard of, nor thy fathers before thee.

But to make an end : I would have every man descend
into himself and rationally consider those generations
which are obvious to our eyes. We see there is a power
granted to man over those things whose original he doth
know. Examples and instances we have in corn and
other vegetables, 'whose seed being known to the husband¬
man he can by the seed multiply his corn and provide for
himself as he thinks fit. If is just so in minerals : there
is a seed out of which Nature makes them, a First Matter ;
and this the magicians carefully sought after, for they
reasoned with themselves that as Nature by the vegetable
seed did multiply vegetables so might they also by the
mineral seed multiply minerals. When they found out
the seed they practised upon it in several ways. They
did shut it up in glasses, keeping it in a most equal,
temperate heat for many months together : but all was
to no purpose. Then did they fancy another course, for
they buried it in the earth and left it there for a long
time : but without any success. At last they considered,
God without all question being their guide, that Nature
had for every seed a vessel of her own and that all her

1 A recurring expression in certain alchemical texts.

2 The Rosicrucian manifestoes implied that the transmutation of metals
was one of their secrets, but assuredly the least of all. The symbol
became more and more spiritualised in later documents.

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vessels were but several sorts of earth. For example, the
vegetable seed had the common earth for his vessel, for
therein Nature did sow it. The animal sperm had the
flesh for his, and flesh is but a soft, animated earth — as
it appears in the dissolution of the body. They saw
plainly then that both these vessels were not appointed
for the mineral sperm. They were too cold for it, and
common fire was too hot, or if it were well regulated yet
could it not alter the sperm, for it had not the qualities
of a matrix. Then did they try several new heats. They
exposed their Matter to the sun ; they buried it in dung¬
hills and beds of quicklime ; they placed their glasses
in the moonbeams ; they invented new baths ; they made
use of sand, ashes and filings of iron ; they burnt oils and
fancied all sorts of lamps : but all this was error, and it
ended in a troublesome nothing. Now all these falsities
shall a man meet with in their books ; for when they had
found out the mineral vessel, and especially the second
earth, wherein they sowed their Mercury and Sulphur,
then did they so confound the 'earth that it is almost
impossible to get the preparation out of their hands.

This I thought fit to touch upon, that those difficulties
which great and aspiring wits must strive withal may be
• the more apparent ; and surely I think I have pretty well
cleared the way. Thus, Reader, have I given thee my
best advice ; and now it remains thou shouldst rail at me
for it. It may be thou hast a free spirit, but if this
liberality concerns not thy credit, keep thy spleen to
thyself, for I would not have thee spend what thou canst
well spare.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

376

A SHORT ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER 1

This advertisement, Reader, invites thee not to my
lodging, for I would give .thee no such directions, my
nature being more melancholy than sociable. I would
only tell thee how charitable I am, for having purposely
omitted some necessaries in my former discourse I have
upon second thoughts resolved against that silence.

There is abroad a bold ignorance, for philosophy hath
her confidants, but in a sense different from the Madams.
This generation I have sometimes met withal and lest
they should ride and repent, I thought it not amiss to
shew them the precipices. The second philosophical
work is commonly called the gross work, but ’tis one of
the greatest subtleties in all the Art. Cornelius Agrippa
knew the first preparation and hath clearly discovered it ;
but the difficulty of the second made him almost an
enemy to his own profession.2 By the second work I
understand not coagulation but the solution of the Philo¬
sophical Salt, a secret which Agrippa did not rightly
know, as it appears by his practice at Malines, nor would
Natalius teach him, for all his frequent and serious en¬
treaties. This was it that made his necessities so vigorous
and his purse so weak that I can seldom find him in a
full fortune. But in this he is not alone. Raymund
Lully — the best Christian artist that ever was — received
not this mystery from Arnoldus, for in his first practices

1 This is printed in the original edition at the end of the Fame and
Confession.

2 The general opinion of Agrippa on the alchemists and alchemy of
his period is found in a chapter of The Vanity of Arts and
Sciences. He rejects the chaos of artificial symbolism but claims to have
received the Secret of the Stone.

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he followed the tedious common process, which after all
is scarce profitable.1 Here he met with a drudgery almost
invincible ; and if we add the task to the time it is enough
to make a man old. Norton was so strange an ignoramus
in this point, that if the solution and purgation were per¬
formed in three years he thought it a happy work.2
George Ripley laboured for new inventions to putrefy
this Red Salt, which he enviously calls his gold ; 3 and his
knack is to expose it to alternate fits of cold and heat.
But in this he is singular, and Faber is so wise he will
.*• not understand him. And now that 1 have mentioned
Faber, I must needs say that Tubal Cain himself is short
of the right substance ; for the process he describes hath
not anything of Nature in it. Let us return then to
Raymund Lully, for he was so great a master that
he performed the solution inside nine days ; 4 5 and this
secret he had from God Himself : for this is his Con¬
fession.5 u When seeking to extract that benign spirit

1 The alchemist who passed under the name of Raymund Lully
adopted one which did not belong to him, for there is no reason to
suppose that it was borne actually by two persons at two different periods.
He who was the author of Ars Magna and the true Lully knew nothing
of alchemy. The Hermetic master came later and much yet remains to
be done in the criticism of his writings, including the personal memoranda
which they contain.

2 Thomas Norton wrote the Ordinal of Alchemy in English verse,
and it was first printed by Elias Ashmole in Theatrum Chemicum
Britannicum.

3 See Ripley Revived, by Eirenaeus Philalethes.

4 Intra novem dies.

5 Nos de prhna ilia nigredine a faucis cognita , benignum spiritum ex-
trahere affectantes , pugnarn ignis vincentem , et non victum, licet sensibus
corporis multoties palpavimus , et oculis propriis vidimus. Extractionis
tamen ipsius notitiam ?ion habuimus quacumque scientiarum indagatione
vel arte. Ideoque sentiebamus nos adhuc aliqua rusticitate exccecatos ,
quia nullo modo earn comprehendere valuimus , donee aliquis Spiritus pro-
phetice , spirans a Patre Luminum , descendit , tanquam suos nullatenus
deserens, aut a se postulaiitibus deficiens f qui in somniis tantam claritatem
mentis nos tree oculis infulsit , ut illam intus et extra , remota omnia figura ,
gratis revelare dignatus est, insatiabili bonitate nos reficiendo , demonstrans
ut ad earn implendam disponeremus corpus ad unam naturalem decoctionem
secretam , qua penitus or dine retrogrado cum pungenti lancea , tota ejus
natura in meram nigredinem visibiliter dissolveretur,

378

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

which prevails over the fire and is not itself conquered, we
have experienced with our physical senses and seen with
our proper eyes concerning that prime blackness known
to few. But our knowledge of the extraction thereof we
did in no wise derive by the way of the sciences, nor yet
by art ; and therefore we thought ourselves as it were
hoodwinked by a kind of clownishness, being unable any¬
wise to comprehend the mystery,- until a spirit of prophecy
came down from the Father of Lights, as if no wise desert¬
ing His own or leaving postulants to their own devices.
This spirit infused during sleep such clearness into the
eyes of mind, that it deigned in its pure bounty to make
known the secret within and without, apart from all figures
of speech, refreshing us by its illimitable goodness and
demonstrating that to perform the work we must pre¬
pare the body by a secret, natural decoction, in which
wholly retrogressive process, as if by a sharp lance, all
its nature shall be visibly dissolved into pure blackness.”

Here lies the knot, and who is he that will untie it ?
“ For ” — saith the same Lully — it was never put to paper,
and he gives this reason for it1 — “ because it is the office
of God only to reveal this thing, and man seeks to take
away from the Divine Glory when he publishes, by word
of mouth or in writing, what appertains to God alone.
Therefore thou canst not attain to this operation until
thou hast first been approved spiritually for the favours
of Divinity. For this secret is of no human revelation
but for that of the Benign Spirit, Which breathes where
it wills.”

It seems then the greatest difficulty is not in the
coagulation or production of the Philosophical Salt but
in the putrefaction of it, when it is produced. Indeed

1 Quia Solius Dei est ea revelare , et homo Divince Majestati sub -
strahere nititur , cum soli Deo pertinentia vulgat spiritu prolationis
humane e, aut literarum serie . Propterea operationem illam habere non
poteris , quousque spiritualiter prius fueris Divinitatis ?neritis compro-
batus. Quia hoc secretu7n a nemine mortali revelandum est , preeterquam
ab Almo Spiritu , quiubi vult , fir at.

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

this agrees best with the sense of the philosophers, for
one of those strict observers 1 tells us that “ he who
knoweth salt and the solution thereof knoweth the hidden
secret of the ancient philosophers.” 2 Alas then, what
shall we do ? Whence comes our next intelligence ? I
am afraid here is a sad truth for somebody. Shall we
run now to Lucas Rhodagirus,3 or have we any dusty
manuscripts that can instruct us ? Well, Reader, thou
seest how free I am grown ; and now I could discover
something else, but here is enough at once. I could
indeed tell thee of the first and second sublimation, of a
double nativity — visible and invisible — without which the
matter is not alterable as to our purpose. I could tell
thee also of Sulphurs simple and compounded, of three
argents vive and as many Salts ; and all this would be
new news — as the bookmen phrase it — even to the best
learned in England. But I have done, and I hope this
discourse hath not demolished any man’s castles ; for why
should they despair when I contribute to their building ?
I am a hearty Dispensero , and if they have got anything
by me, much good may it do them.

It is my only fear they will mistake when they read,
for were 1 to live long — which I am confident I shall not
— I would make no other wish but that my years might
be as many as their errors. I speak not this out of any
contempt, for I undervalue no man. It is my experience
in this kind of learning — which I ever made my business
— that gives me the boldness to suspect a possibility of
the same failings in others which I have found in myself.
To conclude : I would have my reader know that the
philosophers finding this life subjected to necessity and
that necessity was inconsistent with the nature of the

1 Prsecisians.

5 Qui scit salem , et ejns solutione?n , sett secretum occultum antiquorum
fihilosophorum.

3 He wrote PISCES Zodiaci, sive de Solutione Philosophical 1566, and
ZEnigma Versibus, which I know only by the Theatrum Chemicum,

vol. V.

380

The Fraternity of the Rosy Cross

soul, they did therefore look upon man as a creature
originally ordained for some better state than the present,
for this was not agreeable with his spirit. This thought
made them seek the ground of his creation, that if
possible they might take hold of liberty and transcend
the dispensations of that circle which they mysteriously
called Fate. Now what this ready signifies not one in
ten thousand knows ; and yet we are all philosophers.

But to come to my purpose : I say the true philosophers
did find in every compound a double complexion — circum¬
ferential and central. The circumferential was corrupt in
all things, but in some things altogether venomous ; the
central not so, for in the centre of everything there was
a perfect unity, a miraculous indissoluble concord of fire
and water.1 These two complexions are the manifestum
and the occultum of the Arabians ; and they resist one
another, for they are contraries. In the centre itself they
found no discord at all, for the difference of spirits con¬
sisted not in qualities but in degrees of essence and
transcendency. As for the water it was of kin with the
fire, for it was not common but ethereal. In all centres
this fire was not the same, for in some it was only a solar
spirit, and such a centre was called “ Water of the Sun,
Celestial Water, Water of Gold, Water of Silver.” 2 In
some again the spirit was more than solar, for it was
supercelestial and metaphysical. This spirit purged the
very rational soul and awakened her root that was asleep.
And therefore such a centre was called Water tinged with
Fire, Clarifying Water, a Candle uplighting and illumi¬
nating the House. Of both these waters have I dis¬
coursed in those small tractates I have published ; and
although I have had some dirt cast at me for my pains,

1 As the familiar ‘expression goes, this is true on all the planes, and
above everything in the spiritual order, due allowance being made for the
real meaning of the symbolism concerning fire and water.

2 Aqua soli's , aqua coslestis , aqua auri et argenii.

Aqua igne tincta , aqua serenans , candelas accendens et do mum
illuminans.

3Sl

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

yet this is so ordinary I mind it not ; for whiles we live
here we ride in a highway. I cannot think him wise who
resents his injuries, for he sets a rate upon things that are
worthless and makes use of his spleen where his scorn
becomes him. This is the entertainment I provide for
my adversaries ; and if they think it too coarse let them
judge where they understand, and they may fare better.

\

382

EUPHRATES

OR THE WATERS OF THE EAST

V

\

TO THE READER

I have, Reader — and, I suppose, it is not unknown to
thee — within these few years, in several little treatises,
delivered my judgment of philosophy. I say, of philo¬
sophy, for alchemy — in the common acceptation, and
as it is a torture of metals — I did never believe : much
less did I study it.1 On this point, my books — being
perused — will give thee evidence ; for there I refer thee
to a subject that is universal, that is the foundation of
all Nature, that is the matter whereof all things are made,
and wherewith being made are nourished. This, I pre¬
sume, can be no metal ; and therefore as I ever disclaimed
alchemy in the vulgar sense, so 1 thought fit to let the
alchemists know it, lest — in the perusal of my writings —
they should fix a construction to some passages which
cannot suit with the judgment of their author. Hence
thou mayst see what my conceptions were, when I began
to write ; and now I must tell thee, they are still the
same, nor hath my long experience weakened them at
all, but invincibly confirmed them. But — to acquaint
thee how ingenuous I am — I freely confess that in my
practice I waived my own principles, for having miscarried
in my first attempts, I laid aside the true subject and was
contented to follow their noise who will hear of nothing
but metals. What a drudge I have been in this fetid
and feculent school for three years together I will not
here tell thee.2 It was well that I quitted it at last and

1 The testimony is curious, having regard to the note-book of experi¬
ments, of which a full account is given in Appendix I of the present
volume, and in view of the story of Vaughan’s death. He was, moreover,
a student and interpreter of alchemical literature, as there is no need to
say, but his thesis presumably is — their symbolism notwithstanding —
that the great alchemists did not work in metals.

2 It follows that his experiments were undertaken on a hazard, apart
from real faith or guidance.

385

25

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

walked again into that clear light which I had foolishly
forsaken. I ever conceived that in metals there were
great secrets, provided they be first reduced by a proper
dissolvent. But to seek that dissolvent, or the matter
whereof it is made, in metals is not only error but
madness.1 I have for the truth’s sake and to justify
my innocent and former discourses added to them this
little piece, which perhaps is such — and hath, in it so
much — as the world hath not yet seen published. It is
not indeed the tenth part of what I had first designed,
but some sober considerations made me forbear, as my
sudden and abrupt close will inform thee. Howsoever,
what I now reserve as to philosophical mysteries may
be imparted hereafter in our Meteorology ; and for the
Theological we shall draw them up for our own private
use in our Philosophia Gratis.2

I have little more to say ; but if it may add anything
to thy content, I can assure thee here is nothing affirmed
but what is the fruit of my own experience.3 I can truly
say of my own, for with much labour I have wrung it
out of the earth, nor had I any to instruct me.4 I would
not have thee build mountains on the foundation I have
here laid-— not especially those of gold. But if thou dost
build physic upon it,5 then I have shewed thee the rock

1 This does not appear to be the real issue in alchemy. I do not find
that any of the seekers — and much less the masters — sought their dis¬
solvent in metals. The question — by the hypothesis of the subject — is
whether metals ever went into the crucibles of those who knew the work,
whether, in the physical process, they did not rather operate on substances
out of which art produced in the laboratories of true artists the perfect
.metals which Nature generated in mines.

3 The tract on meteorology and the work on grace did not appear,
though Vaughan was certainly alive for some ten years after the publica¬
tion of Euphrates. The second of these promised books should have been
important for the position of Vaughan as a mystic. I have always felt
' that — could he for once have got away from cosmical reveries — he would
have borne true witness on the soul and its attainments.

3 See ante , on walking in the clear light.

4 This statement is of note in a previous connection. He found no
individual instructor and entered no school of initiation.

5 As if he himself had built otherwise.

386

Euphrates

%

and the basis of that famous art, which is so much pro¬
fessed and so little understood. Here shalt thou find
the true subject of it demonstrated, and — if thou art not
very dull — sufficiently discovered. Here God Himself
and the Word of God leads thee to it. Here the Light
shews thee light ; and here hast thou that testimony of
Iamblichus and the Egyptian Records cleared, namely,
that God sometimes delivered to the ancient priests and
prophets a certain matter in blessed visions,1 and com¬
municated it for the use of man.

I shall conclude with this admonition : If thou wouldst
know Nature take heed of antimony and the common
metals.2 Seek only that very first mixture of elements
which Nature makes in the Great World, Seek it, 1
say, whilst it is fresh and new, and — having found it —
conceal it. As for the use of it, seek not that altogether
in books, but rather beg it at the hands of God ; for it
is properly His gift and never man attained to it without
a clear and sensible assistance from above. Neglect not
• my advice in this, though it may seem ridiculous to those
that are over-wise and have the mercies of God in derision.
Many men live in this world without God. They have
no visits from Him and therefore laugh at those that
seek Him — but much more at those that have found
Him. St Paul gloried in His revelations, but h:e that
will do so now shall be numbered amongst ranters and
anabaptists. But let not these things divert thee : if
thou servest God, thou servest a good Master, and He
will not keep back thy wages. Farewell in Christ Jesus.

Eugenius Philalethes.

1 Per beata spectacula.

2 Meaning that we must beware of these. Notwithstanding Basil
Valentine and his Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, the way of
attainment is in an universal, not in a particular subject. But the virtues
of antimony had become of great repute in alchemy because of this
celebrated treatise, though it was concerned with pharmacy rather
than metallurgy.

387

EUPHRATES

It is written in those living oracles which we have re¬
ceived and believe that there is an angel of the waters ; 1
and this seems to be spoken in a general sense, as if the
angel there mentioned had been president of all that
element. Elsewhere we find an angel limited to a more
particular charge, as that which descended at a certain
season and stirred the waters in the pool of Bethsaida.2
Nor is it indeed anything strange that angels should visit
and move that element on which the Spirit of God did
move at the beginning.3 I cite not these places as if they
were pertinent for my purpose or made altogether for it,
though I know they make nothing against it. But I cite
them as generals, to shew that God is conversant with
matter, though He be not tied to it, and this is all my
design. Notwithstanding, I know that Prince Avicen
hath numbered St John the Evangelist amongst the
chemists ;4 and certainly if some passages in the Revela¬
tions were urged — and that no further than their own

1 Revelations, xvi, 5.

2 St John, v, 4. Vaughan belonged to an age and family of faith to
which it had not occurred that Holy Scripture might be of other than
plenary and literal inspiration. He approached the New Testament in
the same manner that the canon of the Old Testament was approached
by Rabbinical Jews.

3 By Vaughan’s hypothesis, our natural water is not that element upon
which the Spirit of God moved at the beginning. It follows that he was
either a careless thinker or believed that logical consistency mattered little
in dealing with a hidden subject.

4 There are some nine supposititious treatises attributed to Avicenna.

I have found no reference to St John in the Tractatulus, which is one
of the most important, nor in the Declaratio Lapidis Physici, nor in
De Congelatione et Conglutinatione Lapidum. There is, I pre¬
sume, no need to say that if the Persian philosopher had been the author of
any such works, it would be ridiculous to look therein for such an allusion.

388

Euphrates

sense would carry them^-it would be somewhat difficult
to repel his opinion. Surely I am one that thinks very
honourably of Nature, and if I avoid such disputes as
these it is because I would not offend weak consciences.
For there are a people who though they dare not think
the majesty of God was diminished in that He made the
world, yet they dare think the majesty of His Word is
much vilified if it be applied to what He hath made —
an opinion truly that carries in it a most dangerous
•blasphemy, namely, that God’s Word and God’s work
should be such different things that the one must needs
disgrace the other.

I must confess I am much to seek what Scripture shall
be applied to, and whom it was written for, if not for us
and for our instruction. For if they that are whole — as
our Saviour testifies — have no need of a physician,1 then
did God cause Scripture to be written neither for Him¬
self nor for His angels ; but it was written for those
creatures who having lost their first estate were since
fallen into corruption. Now then if Scripture was written
for us, it concerns us much to know what use we shall
make of it ; and this we may gather from the different
conditions of man before and after his Fall. Before his
Fall man was a glorious creature, having received from
God immortality and perfect knowledge;2 but in and
after his Fall he exchanged immortality for death and
knowledge for ignorance. Now as to our redemption
from this Fall, we may not — in respect of death — expect
it in this world, God having decreed that all men should
once die. But for our ignorance — we may and ought to
put it off in this life, forasmuch as without the knowledge
of God no man can be saved ; for it is both the cause
and the earnest of our future immortality.3 It remains

1 St Mark, ii, 17.

2 Compare Paracelsus, Bohme, Saint-Martin and even Latin theology,
the last as at a far distance.

3 Man having come into this world that he might know. God, or into
separate being from Him that he might know God consciously.

389

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

then that our ignorance must be put off in part even
in this life,1 before we can put off our mortality ; and
certainly to this end was Scripture written — namely, that
by it we might attain to the knowledge of God and return
to Him from Whom we were fallen.2

And here let no man be angry with me if I ask how
Scripture teacheth us to know God : doth it only tell us
there is a God and leave the rest to our discretion ?
Doth it — that 1 may speak my mind — teach us to know
God by H is works,3 or without His works ? If by His
works, then by natural things, for they are His works,
and none other. If without His works I desire to know
what manner of teaching that is, for I cannot yet find it.
If they say it is by inspiration, I say too that God can
teach us so,4 but Scripture cannot, for certainly Scripture
never inspired any man,5 though it came itself by inspira¬
tion. But if it be replied that in Scripture we have the
testimony of men inspired, 1 say this answer is beside my
question, for I speak not here of the bare authority or testi¬
mony of Scripture, but I speak of that doctrine 6 by which
it proves what it testifies, for with such doctrine the
Scripture abounds. Sure I am that Moses proves God by
His creation, and God proves Himself to Moses by trans¬
mutation of his rod into a serpent, and of the serpent
into a rod. And to the Egyptians He gives more terrible
demonstrations of His power and sovereignty in Nature,
by turning their rivers into blood and the dust of their

land into lice ; by a murrain of beasts, by blains and

•

1 The meaning is that he who ceases from ignorance of God ceases
from the inward sleep or figurative death of the soul.

2 The construction is obscure. It is not intended to say that we cannot
die before we put away ignorance, but that we ought to have done with
this latter before we can safely dispense with that earthly envelope which
has been assumed for our education.

3 But chiefly by that work of God which is man.

4 Speaking in the inward being of the soul, or so awakening it that the
soul testifies to us— on its own part — of God.

6 On the contrary, that which is inspired does -assuredly inspire those
who respond to inspiration.

6 But this is a work of awakening and inspiration.-

390

boils and the death of their first-born ; by the several
plagues of frogs, locusts, hail, fire, thunder and darkness
— all which were but great natural works by which He
proved His Godhead, as Himself hath said. u And the
Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch
forth my hand upon Egypt.”1 When He reveals Him¬
self to Cyrus He doth it not by. a simple affirmation that
He is God, but He proves Himself to be such by the
world that He hath made. “ I am the Lord,” saith He,
“ and there is none else, there is no God beside me : I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me. ... I form
the light, and create darkness : I make peace, and create
evil : I the Lord do all these things. ... I have made
the earth and created man upon it : I, even my hands,
have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have
I commanded.”2

Let any man read those majestic and philosophical
expostulations between God and Job ; 3 or in a word, let
him read over both Testaments and he shall find — if he
reads attentively — that Scripture, all the way, makes use
of Nature and hath indeed discovered such natural
mysteries as are not to be found in any of the philoso¬
phers. And this shall appear in the following discourse.
For my own part, I fear not to say that Nature is so
much the business of Scripture that — to me — the Spirit
of God in those sacred oracles seems not only to mind
the restitution of man in particular but even the re¬
demption of Nature in general.4 We must not therefore
confine this restitution to our own species unless we can
confine corruption to it withal, which doubtless we can¬
not do.5 For it is evident that corruption hath not
only seized upon man but on the world also for man’s

1 Exodus, vii, 5. 2 Isaiah, xlv, 5, 7, 12.

3 The references given are to Job, xxxviii, xxxix, xl and xli.

4 The things which are without do testify to the things that are within,
and the world is remade in man, for and with man.

6 Compare Le Nouvel Homme of L. C. de Saint-Martin and the
TraitE de la REintEgration des £tres by Martines de Pasqually.

391

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

•• •

sake.1 If it be true then that man hath a Saviour, it is
also as true that the whole creation hath the same, God
having reconciled all things to Himself in Jesus Christ.
And if it be true that we look for the redemption of our
bodies and a new man, it is equally true that we look for
a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous¬
ness. For it is not man alone that is to be renewed at
the general restoration, but even the world as well as
man — as it is written : “ Behold I make all things new.” 2
I speak not this to disparage man or to match any other
creature with him ; for I know he is principal in the
restoration, as he was in the Fall, the corruption that
succeeded in the elements being but a chain that this
prisoner drags after him. But I speak this to shew that
God minds the restitution of Nature in general and not
of man alone, who — though he be the noblest part — yet
certainly is but a small part of Nature.

Is Scripture then misapplied, much less vilified, when
it is applied to the object of salvation, namely, to Nature,
for that is it which God would save and redeem from the
present depravations to which it is subject ? Verily,
when I read Scripture, I can find nothing in it but what
concerns Nature and natural things. For where it men¬
tions regeneration, illumination and grace, or any other
spiritual gift, it doth it not precisely but in order to
Nature ; 3 for what signifies all this but a new influence
of spirit, descending from God to assist Nature and to
free us from those corruptions wherewith of a long time
we have been oppressed ? I suppose it will not be
denied that God is more metaphysical than any scripture
can be, and yet in the work of salvation it were great
impiety to separate God and Nature, for then God would
have nothing to save, nor indeed to work upon. How

1 The allusion is to Genesis, iii, 17. 2 Revelations, xxi, 5.

3 I print this as it appears in the original edition, but without being able
to follow the thought which the writer is meaning to convey. Though
often deficient in power and care of expression, Vaughan’s exact meaning
is very seldom a point at issue, as in this place.

392

s

much more absurd is it in the ministry of Nature to
separate Scripture and Nature, for to whom — I beseech
you — doth Scripture speak ? Nay, to whom is salvation
ministered if Nature be taken away ? I doubt not but
man stands in Nature, not above it ; and let the School¬
men resolve him into what parts they please, all those
parts will be found natural, since God alone is truly
metaphysical.1 I would gladly learn of our adversaries
how they came first to know that Nature is corrupted,
for if Scripture taught them this physical truth, why
may it not teach them more ? But that Scripture taught
them is altogether undeniable. Let us fancy a physician
of such abilities as to state the true temperament of his
patient and wherein his disease hath disordered it. Doth
he not this to good purpose ? Questionless, he doth ;
and to no less purpose is it in my opinion for the Spirit of
God — Whose patient Nature is — to give us in Scripture
a character of Nature, which certainly He hath done in
all points^ whether we look to the past, present or future
complexion of the world.

For my own part, 1 have this assurance of philosophy,
that all the mysteries of Nature consist in the knowledge
of that corruption which is mentioned in Scripture and
which succeeded the Fall ; namely, to know what it is
and where it resides principally, as also to know what
substance that is which resists it most and retards it — as
being most free from it — for in these two consist the
advantages of life and death.2 To be short, experience
and reason grounded thereupon have taught me that
philosophy and divinity are but one and the same science.
But man hath dealt with knowledge as he doth with

1 The point is that the lesser world is sphered in the greater world.

2 It would appear that Vaughan is speaking here of physical corruption
and the dissolution to which it leads, in which case his hypothetical
substance which resists and retards corruption is some dreamed ~ of
physical elixir. But he who says truly that philosophy and divinity are
one makes frequent transits from physical to . spiritual things, and we are
often by no means certain as to where he ceases to speak of the one and
begins consideration of the other.

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rivers and wells, which being drawn into several pipes
are made to run several ways, and by this accident come
at last to have several names. We see that God in His
work hath united spirit and matter, visibles and invisibles ;
and out of the union of spiritual and natural substances
riseth a perfect compound, whose very nature and being
consists in that union. How then is it possible to
demonstrate the nature of that compound by a divided
theory of spirit by itself and matter by itself ? For if
the nature of a compound consists in the composition of
spirit and matter, then must not we seek that nature in
their separation but in their mixture and temperature,
and in their mutual mixed actions and passions. Besides,
who hath ever seen a spirit without matter or matter
without spirit, that he should be able to give us a true
theory of both principles in their simplicity ? Certainly
no man living. It is just so in divinity, for if by evasion
we confine divinity to God in the abstract, who — say I — -
hath ever known Him so ? Or who hath received such
a theology from Him and hath not all this while delivered
it unto us ? Verily, if we consider God in the abstr^pt,
and as He is in Himself, we can say nothing of Him
positively, but we may something negatively, as Dionysius
hath done.1 That is to say, we may affirm, what He is
not, but we cannot affirm what He is. But if by divinity
we understand the doctrine of salvation, as it is laid down
in Scripture, then verily it is a mixed doctrine, involving
both God and Nature. And here I doubt not to affirm
that the mystery of salvation can never be fully under¬
stood without philosophy2 — not in its just latitude —
as it is an application of God to Nature and a conversion

1 Proceeding step by step, from lesser to greater negation, and finally
daring to deny all that is affirmed of God, He being nothing of all that is
— of that which is positive nothing and nothing of that which is manifest.
—Treatise on Mystical Theology, c. ii.

2 The word philosophy must be understood here in the sense of
Vaughan’s previous statement — that it is one and the same science with
divinity. See p. 393.

394

of Nature to God, in which two motions and their means
all spiritual and natural knowledge is comprehended.

To speak then of God without Nature is more than
we can do, for we have not known Him so ; and to
speak of Nature without God is more than we may do,
for we should rob God of His glory and attribute those
effects to Nature which belong properly to God and to
the Spirit of God, Which works in Nature. We shall
therefore use a mean form of speech between these ex¬
tremes, and this form the Scriptures have taught us, for
the prophets and apostles have used no other. Let not
any man therefore be offended if in this discourse we shall
use Scripture to prove philosophy and philosophy to
prove divinity, for of a truth our knowledge is such that
our divinity is not without Nature, nor our philosophy
without God. Notwithstanding, I dare not think but
most men will repine at this course, though I cannot
think wherefore they should, for when I join Scripture
and philosophy I do but join God and Nature, an union
certainly approved of by God, though it be condemned
of men.1 But this perverse ignorance — how bold soever
it be — I shall not quarrel with, for besides Scripture I
have other grounds that have brought me very fairly and
soberly to this discourse.

I have sojourned now for some years in this great
fabric which the fortunate call the world, and certainly I
have spent my time like a traveller — not to purchase it
but to observe it. There is scarce anything in it but
hath given me an occasion of some thoughts ; but that
which took me up much and soon was the continual
action of fire upon water.2 This speculation — I know

1 We should remember that Vaughan had passed through the Common¬
wealth gross purgation, its hot gospels and puritanism apart from purity.
Mat? imonium Dei et Naturce was an impossible thesis then, though even
in high places of the protectorate there were a few chosen souls like Rouse
who knew something of the greater espousals and an union of God and
Nature in the human soul.

2 Not perhaps without some intimations concerning the work of Divine
Fire upon the water of natural emotions.

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not how — surprised my first youth, long before I saw the
university ; and certainly Nature, whose pupil I was, had
even then awakened many notions in me which I met
with afterwards in the Platonic philosophy.1 I will not
forbear to write how I had then fancied a certain practice
on water, out of which — even in those childish days — 1
expected wonders, but certainly neither gold nor silver,
for I did not so much as think of them, nor of any such
covetous artifice. This consideration of myself when I
was a child hath made me since examine children, namely,
what thoughts they had of those elements we see about
us ; and I found thus much of them — that Nature in
her simplicity is much more wise than some men are,
with their acquired parts and sophistries. Of a truth
I thought myself bound to prove all things, that I might
attain to my lawful desires. But lest you think I have
only conversed with children, I shall confess I have con¬
versed with children and fools too — that is, as I interpret
it, with children and men, for these last are not in all
things as wise as the first. A child, I suppose, in puris
naturalibus , before education alters and ferments him, is
a subject hath not been much considered, for men respect
him not till he is company for them, and then indeed they
spoil him. Notwithstanding, I should think, by what 1
have read, that the natural disposition of children, before
it is corrupted with customs and manners, is one of those
things about which the ancient philosophers have busied
themselves, even to some curiosity. I shall not here
express what I have found by my own experience, for
this is a point of foresight and a ground by which wise
men have attained to a certain knowledge of morals, as
well as naturals.

1 And yet we seem missing continually, though often as if on the verge
of finding, those real and living intimations which would have offered a
true memorial concerning that action of fire upon water which is not of
external elements but of the soul’s elemental life. I speak of that
mystical marriage which — if we are to use the terms of symbolism — is
made between “great waters of understanding ’’and the fire of “supernal
wisdom.”

396

But to return from this digression to the principles
first proposed, namely, fire and water, I shall borrow
my entrance into this discourse from my famous
countryman, Rice of Chester,, who speaking of this
art delivers himself thus. “ This Art,” saith he, “ be-
longeth to occult philosophy and to that part of the
philosophy which treats of meteors. The said Art
discourses not only of the elements but also of things
produced by these. Search herein, because it is a great
secret.” 1

These words — if the mysteries they involve and relate
to were distinctly laid down — would make an endless
discourse, for they contain all that Nature doth and all
that Art can do. But that we may, in some order and as
far as conscience will permit,2 express what they signify :
We do first say that God is the principal and sole Author
of all things, Who by H is Word and Spirit hath formed
and manifested those things which at present we cannot
see. As for the matter whereof He formed them, it
being a substance pre-existent not only to us but to the
world itself, most men may think the knowledge of it
impossible, for how shall we know a thing that was so
long before us and which is not now extant with us, nor
ever was — in their opinion — since -the creation?3 To
this objection, which at first sight may seem invincible,
we shall return an answer shall break it ; for we will
shew how and by what means we came to know this
matter and not only to know it but after long labours to

1 Ars hcsc de philo sophia occulta est , et est de ilia parte philosophies
quee meteora tractat. Loquitur enim hcsc ars non solum de elevatione
et depressione elementorum sed etiam elementatorum. Lcias hoc , quia
magnum secretum est. — I have endeavoured to trace this author under
all possible forms and variants of his name, but without success.

2 As it was in the beginning with Vaughan so also it remains to the end
of his literary life. I have discussed this conscience which permits and
hinders in the introductory part.

3 On the hypothesis that the original of all things is one thing — an ether,
an essence, a primal, irreducible matter — it seems obvious that it must be
everywhere “extant” through all the aeons, for it is the universal root and
foundation.

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•

see it, handle it and taste it.1 It is evident enough that
every individual — suppose man himself — is made by a
seed, and this seed — when the body is perfected — appears
no more, for it is altered and transformed to a body.
However, that self-same body doth afterwards yield a
seed, which is the very same in Nature with that original
firjst seed whereof the body was made. I presume then
that he that would know the generation of man needs

• not look back so far as Adam to know the first seed ; for
if Nature still affords the like, what needs that fruitless
retrogradation ? It is even so with the world, for it was
originally made of a seed, of a seminal, viscous humidity
or water. But that seed — as we have said in our
Aphorisms2 — disappeared in the creation, for the Spirit
of God that moved upon it transformed it and made the
world of it. Howsoever, that very world doth now yield
and bring forth out of its own body a secondary seed,
which is the very same in essence and substance with that
primitive general seed whereof the world was made.
And if any man shall ask what use Nature makes of this
general seed, and wherefore she yields it, I answer that
it is not to make another world of it but to maintain that
world with it which is made already ? For God Almighty
hath so decreed that His creatures are nourished with the
very same matter whereof they were formed ; and in
this is verified that maxim which otherwise would be
most false : “ By the self-same things of which we con¬
sist are we also nourished.” 3 We seek not much whence
our own nutriment comes, nor that of beasts, for both

1 The affirmation is made here, but the promised revelation does not of
course follow. Taking Vaughan at his own words, the one thing needful
was a plain statement of that procedure — whatever it was — in virtue of
which he believed himself able to touch, taste and see what he believed
to be the First Matter.

2 The reference is not apparently to the Magical Aphorisms of
Eugenius which follow the text of Lumen de Lumine, and no others are
extant, unless it be the ten aphorisms mentioned in the title of The
Chymist’s Key to Shut and to Open, for which see Appendix IX to
the present work. But these were the work of Nollius.

3 Ex iisdem natrimur ex quibus constamus.

398

Euphrates

provisions are obvious. But what is that which feeds
grass, herbs, corn and all sorts of trees, with their fruits ?
What is it that restores and supplies the earth when these
copious and innumerous products have for the greatest
part of the year lived sucking on her breasts and almost
exhausted her ? I am afraid they will speak as they
think and affirm it is water, but what skilful assertors
they are shall appear hereafter.

Certainly even that which we eat ourselves, and beasts
also, proceeds all of it from the same fountain ; but before
it comes to us it is altered, for animals feed on particulars
but vegetables abstract this sperm immediately in its
heavenly, universal form. Notwithstanding I would not
have this so understood as if this seed did serve only to
nourish, for many things are made of it, and especially
that subterraneous family of minerals and metals. For
this thing is not water otherwise than to the sight but
a coagulable fat humidity, or a mixture of fire, air and
pure earth, overcast indeed with water, and therefore not
seen of any nor known but to few. In vegetables it
oftentimes appears, for they feed not — as some think —
on water but on this seminal viscosity1 that is hid in the
water. This indeed they attract at the roots* and from
thence it ascends to the branches, but sometimes it
happens by the way to break out at the bark, where
meeting with the cold air it subsists and congeals to a
gum.2 This congelation is not sudden but requires some
small time, for if you find it while it is fresh it is an
exceedingly subtle moisture but glutinous, for it will
spin into strings as small as any hair ; and had it passed
up to the branches it had been formed — in time — to a
plum or cherry. This happens to it by cold and above
ground, but in the bowels of the earth it is congealed by

1 It would appear therefore that the life and nourishment of plants
depend upon their power of drawing into them the First Matter, every¬
where described by Vaughan as a seminal viscosity.

2 The said gum is therefore the First Matter, whether qualified or not
by the particular channel of vegetation through which it has passed.

• 399

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

a sulphureous heat into metals,1 and if the place of its
congelation be pure then into a bright metal, for this
sperm is impregnated with light and is full of the Star-
Fire,2 from whence all metals have their lustre. The
same might be said of pearls and precious stones, this
starry seed being the mother of them all. For where it
is mineralised by itself and without any feculent mixture,
then it sheds and shoots its fires,3 4 and hath so much of
heaven that if we did not know the conspiracy we should
wonder how it could love the earth. Let us now in a
few words resume what we have said, and the rather
because we would explain our method, for we intend to
follow Raymund Lully, who in the third chapter of his
Testament 4 hath laid down a certain figure which fully
answers to those -words we have formerly cited out of
Rhsesus Cestrensis.5

We have already mentioned two principles, God and
Nature, or God and the created world ; for that third
principle or chaos that was pre-existent to the world we
shall speak of no more. But in lieu of it we shall have
recourse to the secondary sperm or chaos that now is and
comes out of the visible world. For we will ground our
discourse upon nothing but what is visible, and in the
front of it we place the Divine Majesty, Who is the sole,
central Eternal Principle and Architect of all.

This figure is Raymund Lully’s, and in the centre of
it you see the first Hyle or Matter, whereof the world was
made.6 In this Hyle — saith Raymund — all the elements
and all natural principles — as well means as extremes — were

1 The gum, the cherry, the gold — these three are of one substance :
hereof is the physics of Vaughan.

2 Or, as it is called by modern occult writers, the Astral Light.

3 Vomit igniculos suos.

4 Testamentum Raymundi Lullii , duo bus libris Universam Artem

Chymicam complectens. Pars i, cap. 4. The diagram as produced by
Vaughan is altered slightly from the original.

6 See note on p. 397.

6 That is to say, (1) the primal chaos, (2) the matter of the Philosophical
Stone, (3) the basic matter of Mercury, (4) the First Matter.

4OO

Euphrates

mingled potentially “ in a confused form of water ” ; 1
and this primitive spermatic ocean filled all that space
which we now attribute to the air, for — saith he — “ it
extended even to the lunar circle.” 2 Out of this central
Hyle — with which we have now done— did rise all those
principles and bodies which you find written in the cir¬
cumference of the figure : and here begins our philosophy.

In the first place over the Hyle you see the elements,
or the visible created world, whose parts are commonly
called elements, namely, earth, water, air and heaven—
for there is no other fire but that ignis fatuus which
Aristotle kindled under the moon.3 From the elements
on the right hand, by rarefaction and resolution of their
substance, you see derived another principle, namely, the
vapours of the elements or the clouds, in which vapours
the inferior and superior natures meet and are there
married, and out of their mixture results that secondary
sperm or chaos philosophical, which we look for. Next
to the clouds or vapours of the elements you will find
in the figure a third principle, namely, a clear water which
proceeds immediately from the clouds. “ And that ” —

1 In forma co7ifusa aquce.

2 Attingebat usque ad circulum lunar em.

3 Apparently another derisive ‘allusion to Aristotle’s notions concerning
a quintessence, Vaughan ignoring the fact that alchemical literature is full
of this symbolism.

4OI

26

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saith Lully — “ is the substance rather 1 like unto quick¬
silver which is truly found running and flowing upon the
earth.” The fourth principle, which Nature immediately
generates by congelation out of the substance or viscosity
of the aqueous universal Mercury, is the glassy Azoth ,2
which is a certain fiery, sulphureous, masculine minera.
And this is gold philosophical — the sulphur, the earth
and the male, as the viscous water is the Mercury and
the female. The rest of the principles which are ranged
in the figure are artificial principles, and cannot be known
or manifested without Art, excepting the seventh and last
principle, which is either gold or silver. For these are
perfect metals and ferments that specify the medicine —
which of itself is universal — and reduce it to a particular
disposition and effect.

Thus far we thought fit to deal plainly with you, and
for the practical part of this figure we shall waive it, for
we had rather speak nothing than to speak that we cannot
be understood. I dare say there are some writers who
rejoice in their own riddles and take a special pleasure to
multiply those difficulties which are numerous enough
already. For my part 1 shall not put you to a trial of
wit. You may take the rest from their author and thus
expose you to no other hazard but what I have been
formerly exposed to myself.

We shall now again return to our theory, and to make
our entrance we say that fire begins every motion and
motion begins generation. For if the elements or parts
of this material world did all of them stand within their

1 Et ilia est res argento vivo magis propinqua , quce quidem reperitur
supra terrain, currens et fluens.

2 Azoth is the Mercury of metallic bodies. The term is used not only
by Raymund Lully but by the Latin Geber, Mary of Egypt, Basil Valentine
and Paracelsus. In De Occulta Philosophia, s.v. De Magicce Abusu ,
it is said to have power against sorceries. Azoc would seem to be one of
its synonyms, and in Aurora Paracelsus says : “ Let fire and Azoc suffice
thee.,; Vitrified or glassy Azoth is mentioned by Rulandus. It is the
universal medicine, of catholic and central virtue. A precipitate of ordinary
Mercury used to be called by this name in some old chemical books,
but true Azoth had nothing to do with common Mercury.

402

Euphrates

proper bounds,1 such a cessation would produce nothing.
To prevent this the Almighty God placed in the heart
of the world, namely, in the earth — as He did in the heart
of every other creature — a fire-life, which Paracelsus calls
the Archaeus 2 and Sendivogius the Central Sun.3 This
fire — lest it should consume its own body, the earth — he
hath overcast with a thick, oily, saltish water, which we
call the sea.4 For sea-water — as we have tried — not
to speak of its salt, is full of a sulphureous, volatile
fatness, which doth not quench fire, like the common
water, but feeds it. The like providence we see in the
bodies of animals, whose heat or life is tempered with
a sulphureous, saltish moisture — namely, with blood —
and the blood with the breath, as the sea is with wind
and air. Over this Archaeus or central fire God hath
placed His heaven, the sun and stars, as He hath placed
the head and the eyes over the heart. For between man
and the world there is no small accord, and he that knows
not the one cannot know the other.5 We may observe
also that the wind passeth between the inferior and
superior fires, that is, between the central and celestial
sun ; and in man the breath hath all its liberty and
motion between the heart and the eyes — that is, between
the fire and the light that is in us.6 We see, moreover,
in man and the world a most even correspondence of
effects ; for as the blood, even so the sea hath a constant

1 In suis terminis.

2 The principle of motion in Nature, the universal and particular agent,
which disposes to generation and reproduction. Sendivogius calls Archaeus
the servant of Nature, which distils and sublimes the elements. — Novum'
Lumen Chemicum, Tract, ii and iv.

3 Ibid., in the Epilogue or Conclusion to the Twelve Treatises.

4 Sendivogius claims to have concealed nothing but “our sea-water,”
otherwise Sophie Mercury, for this secret can be revealed only by God.
Ibid.

5 So also Alipili says that if we cannot find within us the Great Secret
of the Stone we shall never find it without.

6 This is only a dream-analogy. Vaughan on physics is like any other
student at his period, and he is not altogether to be judged thereby. He
was indeed more fanciful than many ; but he had saving lights of another
and higher kind.

403

The IV irks of Thomas Vi aughan

pulse or agitation, both spirits stirring and working alike
in their bodies.

Nor ought we to neglect another consideration — that
the light of the world is in the superior parts of it, namely,
the sun and stars. But the original fire from whence
these sparks fly upwards appears not, but lives imprisoned
in the earth. Even so certainly all the brightness of man
is in his face, for there he sheds his light at the eyes ;
but the first source of it, namely, that fire which is at the
heart, is no more seen than that which is in the earth.
Only this we may say that both these imprisoned fires are
manifested to reason by the same effects, namely, by the
pulse that the one causeth in the blood and the other in the
sea, to which may be added that transpiration or evapora¬
tion of humours which both these spirits produce, alike
in their several bodies. And that we may further prove
that these terms of Archeus and Sol Centralis 1 are not vain
words let us but consider what a strong heat is required
to this sublimation of vapours and exhalations ; for it is
not simple water that is driven upwards but abundance of
salt and oil, together with the water. If any man thinks
the sun can do this I must tell him he knows not the
operations of the sun, nor for what use it serves in
Nature. The sun serves only to dry up the superfluous
humidity which the night leaves behind her on the outside
of things ; for this makes all vegetables cold and flaccid,
hinders their digestion and maturity. But the sun, with
a clear heat, taking off that extraneous moisture forwards
their concoction and helps to ripen that which is raw.
This must be done with a most gentle heat, not with
such as shall make the earth to smoke and extract clouds
from it, for this would not bring things to a maturity but
rather burn and calcine them. We know that if we stand

1 The Central Sun of Vaughan is in the earth, and is to be distinguished
therefore from that metaphysical Sun which is figured in some theo-
sophical systems as in the centre of the cosmos and is in most of these
reveries regarded as God Himself. Vaughan follows Sendivogius. See
Novum Lumen Chemicum, Tract, xi.

404

Euphrates

long in the sun we shall grow faint, and common fire will
not burn in the light of it, for the sun — which is the true
element of fire — attracts it, so that by degrees it goes of?
and 'forsakes its fuel. But if you convey the fire out of
the sun then it will more strongly apply to the fuel and
unite itself to it and burn it.

It is just so with the earth, for whiles the heat of the
sun is present, the heat of the earth is more busy with
the sun than with its own body. For as Sendivogius
hath well written : £C Rays are joined with rays on the
surface of the earth.” 1 In the face of the earth the
beams of both luminaries meet, and there is such a con¬
spiracy between fire and fire that the central — breaking
forth to meet the celestial — suffers a kind of ecstasy and
doth not much mind its own body. Give me leave to
speak thus, for there is such an affinity between these
two that they had rather join with one another than with
any third nature. But that is it which cannot be but in
part, and by way of influence, God having confined the
one to the centre and the other to the circumference.
I could demonstrate this sympathy by a most noble
magnetism, which I have seen to my admiration, between
the sun and sweet oil, or rather the fire and soul of
nitre.2 And here I shall tell you that the earth is full
of nitre.3 Nay, I must affirm that pure earth is nothing
else but nitre, whose belly is full of wind, air and fire,
and which differs no more from heaven than the root of
a tree that lodgeth in the dirt doth from the branches of
it that grow in the sunshine. This attraction of fire by
fire is the true cause why the heat of the earth is so weak

1 In superficie terrce radii radiis junguntur.

2 A reference to philosophical nitre, but there is very little about it in
the literature. Igne nitrum roris invenitur was one of the word-groups
formed out of the I.N.R.I. formula. Sendivogius says that it is the dis¬
solvent of gold and is in fact sophic Mercury — one of the thousand
names.

3 That is, in the sense of Sendivogius. Under the more common name
of saltpetre it has scarcely been symbolised alchemically. Sendivogius
seems to identify it with philosophical Magnesia.

405

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

in summer and so strong in winter. For in the winter —
when the sun is absent — the central fire keeps altogether
within the earth and, being irritated by an hostile in¬
vasion of cold, heats the waters much more vigorously,
so that exhalations and clouds are far more copious in
the winter than they are in the summer, which could
not be if the sun were the cause of them. Add to this
that an outward, dry heat — as that of the sun is — falling
immediately on the earth, must needs burn the earth
before it can make it smoke ; but an inward fire, that
is mingled with the moisture of the earth, cannot burn,
be it never so intense, for it is qualified with the water
and tempered to a moist heat. And without doubt such
a fire may very naturally resolve some parts of the earth
and cause them to exhale — as our own inward heat being
moistened with the blood makes us sweat without any
violence.

To reduce all this to a corollary, we say that in the
winter God seals the face of the earth with frost and
cold, as a man would seal a glass, and this to keep in the
congelative spermatic humidity, which otherwise might
ascend with the more crude vapours that break out
copiously at that time and, filling the sphere of the air,
take in — like so many sponges — the celestial, vital
influences. For we must know that Nature begins to
impregnate the earth about the end of autumn and
continues it all the winter, the fiery subtle influx of the
heavens being then condensed by the cold and moisture
of the moon — who is regent all the winter and elevated
above the sun. This you may see in snow, which falls
in hard frost, which being taken" up whiles it is fresh,
and digested in a blind glass in ashes for twenty-four
hours, if then you open the glass whilst the solution is
warm, you shall perceive in the breath of the water all
the odours in the world, and certainly far more pleasant
than they are in the flowers at May. Look into the
bottom of the glass and you will find there a fat, grey

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slime — mot unlike to castile-soap. Separate the phlegm
from it by a soft distillation in the bath 1 and put the
residue in a bolthead,2 well stopped, in a dry heat of
ashes. Keep it there warm for an hour or two and
suddenly the glass will fly to pieces, for the wind — the
life or spirit — is not well settled in the body. Here you
may see the first attempts of Nature ; but if you know
how to work upon water you shall find greater things
than I have told you.

The Magnesia3 then — as Sendivogius hath written —
is generated, in the winter, and not without reason, for
then the heat of the earth is strongest and best able to
digest the nutriment that comes down from heaven and
concoct it to a viscous sperm. But in the spring and
summer seasons, when the sun hath chased off the .frost
and the central and celestial luminaries have — by their
mutual mixture and conflux of beams — relaxated and
dilated the pores of the earth, then there is a way made
for the sperm to ascend more freely, which subliming
upwards is attracted and intercepted by the vegetable
kingdom, whose immediate aliment it is.

To return then to those first words of Rhsesus
Castrensis : we say this sperm is made of the vapours
or clouds, and the vapours are made by elevation and
depression of the elements, and not only of the elements
but — as he saith — of elementata 4 also, that is, of bodies
compounded of the elements. And this bears a double
sense, for we must know that the earth is charged with
many particular natures — as minerals of all sorts and

1 In balneo. 2 /.<?., a receiver.

3 See Novum Lumen Chemicum, Tract, iv. A certain unctuous
vapour, consisting of Sulphur and Mercury, is said to be liberated in the
spring-time and attracts the Mercury of the air, giving life to all things.

It is said in the epilogue that “the inmost heart of our Magnesia” coire-
sponds to “ the respective centres of the sun and earth.” The Salt of the
sages is hidden in “ the womb of Magnesia.”

4 This word is practically untranslatable — things formed of the elements
is crude and awkward ; children of the elements suggests elementary
spirits of old folk-lore and magic.

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cadaverous relics ; for our bodies also lodge in the earth
when the spirit of life hath left them. All these, as well
as the earth itself, suffer a rarefaction and resolution of
substance ; for into these vapours, saith Raymund Lully,
“are resolved all bodies produced from the elements,
that they may enter into a new generation.” 1

This puts me in mind of an opinion I have read some¬
times in the Kabalists, namely, that this bulk or body we
have attained to by attraction and transmutation of nutri¬
ment riseth not in the resurrection. But out of that
seminal particle which originally attracting the nutriment
did overcast itself therewith, there shall spring another
new body, and this seminal particle — say they — lurketh
somewhere in the bones, not in that part which moulders
into dust.2 Of a truth we see that bones are very
permanent and lasting ; and this Joseph was not ignorant
of when, dying in Egypt, he gave that charge to his
brethren : cc Ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” 3
We know the Israelites were bondmen in Egypt near
four hundred years after Joseph’s death; yet all that
time his bones were not consumed, but were carried
away to the land of Canaan, as it is written : “ And
Moses took the bones of Joseph with him : for he
had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God
will surely visit you ; and ye shall carry up my bones
hence with you.”4

Certainly, if we judge rightly, we must confess that
this seminal particle is our only fundamental matter, the
rest being an accretion that comes from the extraneous
substance of meat and drink. What loss is it then if we
lay by this corrupt secretion or access of matter, for can¬
not He that made us at first of the seminal particle make
us of it again ? From this opinion St Paul, in my judg-

1 Omnia corpora elementata resolvantur ad intrandam novam genera-
tionem.

2 See my Secret Doctrine in Israel for Zoharic reveries concern¬
ing the resurrection of the body.

3 Genesis, 1, 25. 4 Exodus, xiii, 19.

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Euphrates

ment, abhors not in that speech of his to the Corinthians,
where he would shew them the manner of the resurrec¬
tion and with what bodies the dead rise. “ Thou fool ” —
saith he — “ that which thou sowest is not quickened, except
it die : and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that
body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat,
or of some' other grain : but God giveth it a body as it
hath pleased Him, and to every seed a body that is proper
for it.”1 For so signifieth the original. And here, you
that are angry readers, let me be excused ; for I deliver
not this as my own sentiment but as the tradition of the
Jews, who were sometimes a very learned people and knew
more of the Mysteries of God and Nature than any other
nation whatsoever.2

But to begin again where we left, you must know that
when the central sun 3 sublimes the vapours those vapours
partake not only of the nature of earth and water but of
divers other particular minerals, whereof the earth and
water are full. To make this more clear, the vapours —
properly so called — rise from the sea and from all fresh
waters. These partake of the substance and qualities of
such minerals as are in the water, some of them being
bituminous, some saltish, some mercurial, and all of them
moist and phlegmatic. On the contrary, those exhalations
that come from the earth are dry, for the earth is more hot
and mineral than the water. These fiery, earthy fumes,
meeting with the cold vapours of the water, oftentimes
produce most terrible tempests, some of these being
nitrous, some arsenical, some sulphureous and all hot ;
and some — by reason of their copious sulphur — in¬
flammable. Both these — I mean the earthly exhalations
and the watery vapour — meet in that vast circulatory of

0 * f

0

1 I Corinthians, xv, 36-38. 'The Authorised Version gives: “To
every seed his own body,” but Vaughan translates the Vulgate : Et
unicuique. seminum proprium corpus .

2 It does not follow that Vaughan accepts the Jewish reverie as literal
truth, though he leans in that direction.

3 Meaning the dark sun, fabled as in the centre of the earth.

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the air, where their contrary complexions of heat and
cold are mingled together like agent and patient, of
Sulphur and Mercury. And the particular natures and
vapours which they acquired from the minerals are re- •
solved by the wind and totally reduced into general
principles.. It is strange to consider what a powerfully re¬
solving faculty there is in wind or air, for wind is no other
thing than air stirred, and that by fire, as we see in man
that the motion of the breath is caused by heat, as well
as that of the blood, both proceeding from the same hot
principle of life. So certainly the life of the world
causeth wind or a commotion in the air as well as a flux
in the sea, for both these are seas and have their fluxes,
as we shall prove elsewhere more fully. Air then — as we
have said — resolves all things and especially wind, for it
resolves all salts into water, and if this solution be distilled
we shall find some part of the salt reduced into fresh
water.1 As for the residue, if it be exposed to the wind
it will resolve again, and you may distil it the second
time. In a word, if you repeat this process, you will
bring the whole body of the salt into a volatile fresh
water, nothing different from the common, either in sight
or taste. And here you must not think your salt is lost,

* for if you know how to congeal your water you will find
it again, but so altered from what it was that you will
wonder to see it.

This practice, if well understood, sufficiently declares
the nature of air ; but he that knows where to find con¬
gealed air, and can dissolve it by heat to a viscous water,
he hath attained to something that is excellent. Much
more I could say of 'this wonderful and spiritual element,
whose penetrating, resolving faculty I have sometimes
contemplated in this following and simple experiment.

1 It is difficult for commonly instructed people to believe that a writer
who is so utterly at sea over physical things could be instructed in things
spiritual ; but the same reasoning would condemn in the same manner not
only Plato and Plotinus but Eckehart and Ruysbroeck ; nor do I know
what sages or saints of old might be held to escape.

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Euphrates

Common quicksilver hath a miraculous union of parts
and of all compounds is the strongest, excepting gold ;
for if you distil it by retort a hundred times it will be
quicksilver still — notwithstanding all those reiterated
rarefactions of his body. But if you take a thousand
weight of it and vapour it away but once in the open air,
it will never come to quicksilver again ; for the fumes
will be lifted up to the wind, where they will suffer a
total dissolution, and will come down mere rain-water.1
This is the very reason why also the vapours of the
elements are lifted up to the middle region of the air,
for there the wind is most cold and hath most liberty ;
and in no other place can their resolution — which Nature
intends — be perfected. This, if understood, is a most
noble secret of Nature, nor was Job ignorant of it, when
— complaining of the decays of his own body — he
delivered himself thus : “ Thou liftest me up to the
wind ; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest
my substance.” 2

We have hitherto shewed you how fire rarefies all
things, and how wind and air resolve them yet further
than fire, as we have exemplified in quicksilver. And
this is it we have delivered elsewhere in more envious
terms, namely, that circumferences dilate and centres
contract ; that superiors dissolve and inferiors coagulate ;
that we should make use of an indeterminate agent till
we can find a determinate one.3 4 For true it is that the
mercurial dissolving faculty is in the air and in airy
things, and the sulphureous, congealing virtue is in the

1 We must remember that Vaughan by his own account was the least
instructed of all chemists, proceeding without a guide and — as we learn
from his autograph note-book — by no means invariably in a position to
reproduce his own experiments.

2 Job, xxx, 22. Compare the Vulgate reading : Elevasti me, et quasi
super ventum ponens elisisti me valide.

3 Anima Magica Abscondita. If Vaughan’s cryptic symbolism
decodes throughout into this kind of stuff, few of us would have cause
to be grateful were they presented with a master-key. It is worth no
man’s while to open a “closed palace” of this kind.

41 1

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

earth — that is to say, in some mineral natures and
substances which God hath hid in the earth. Take
therefore water of air, which is a great dissolvent,
and ferment it with earth ; and, on the contrary, earth
with water. Or to speak more obscurely : ferment
Mercury with Sulphur and Sulphur with Mercury.
And know that this congealing faculty is much adjuvated
by heat, especially in such places where the sperm cannot
exhale and where the heat is temperate. But if the place
be open and the heat excessive, then it dissipates. It
remains now that we speak something of the two passive
material elements, namely, of earth and water, for these
are the bodies that suffer by fire and whose parts, are
perpetually regenerated by a circular rarefaction and
condensation.

It is the advice of the Brothers of R.*.C.\ that those
who would be proficients in this Art should study the
elements and their operation before they seek after the
tinctures of metals.1 It is to be wished indeed that men
would do so, for then we should not have so many
broilers 2 and so few philosophers. But here it may be
questioned who is he that studies the elements for any
such end as to observe and imitate their operations ?
For in the universities we study them only to attain a
false book-theory, whereof no use can be made but quack¬
ing, disputing and making a noise. Verily the doctrine
of the schoolmen hath alloyed and perverted even that
desire of knowledge which God planted in man. For
the traditions we receive there, coming from our superiors,
carry with them the awe of' the tutor, and this breeds in

1 The philosophical tincture of things is neither an application of colour
to a surface nor a colour permeation. It is an inward change of nature
which manifests without. The nearest analogy is that of grace abiding
in the heart and soul.

2 One of the derisive terms applied by alchemists to gropers and
sophists. But by the hypothesis of the literature — or at least by their
own accepted testimony — after a long correctio fatuorum , some of them
attained their term, as for example Bernard Trevisan, who had followed
the wildest processes.

412

us an opinion of their certainty, so that an university man
cannot in all his life-time attain to so much reason and
confidence as to look beyond his lesson. I have often
wondered that any sober spirits can think Aristotle’s
philosophy perfect when it consists in mere words with¬
out any further effects ; for of a truth the falsity and
insufficiency of a mere notional knowledge is so apparent
that no wise man will assert it. This is best known to
the physicians, who when they have been initiated into
this whirligig are forced at last to leave it and to assume
new principles, if they will be such as their profession
requires they should be. Aristotle will very gravely tell
us : “ Where the philosopher ends, there begins the
physician.”1 But I admire what assistance a physician
can receive from this philosopher whose science tells us
that “ science does not pertain to a part,” 2 for without
particulars a physician can do nothing. But in good
earnest, did not Aristotle’s science — if he had any — arise
from particulars, or did it descend immediately from
universals ? If from universals how came he to be
acquainted with them ? Did he know the genus before
he knew the species, or the species before the individuals ?
I think not. He knew the individual first and having
observed his nature and propriety he applied that to the
whole species ; or — to speak sense — to all individuals of
that kind ; and this -application made that knowledge
general which at first was particular, as being deduced
from a particular object. This is true and Aristotle will
tell us so, though he gave himself the lie, for elsewhere
he affirms : “ There is nothing in the understanding
which was not at first in sense ” 3 — which if it be true
then “ science does not pertain to a part ” is false.

But I have done with him at present, and for my own
part I have learned long ago, not of Aristotle but of

1 Ubi desinit philosophies, ibi incipit medicus.

2 Scientia non est particularium.

3 Nihil esse i?i uitellectu quod non fuit prius in sensu.

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The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

Roger Bacon, that generals are of small value, nor fitting
to be followed, save by reason of particulars.1 And this
is evident in all practices and professions that conduce
anything to the benefit of man. For Nature herself hath
imprinted the universal notions and conceptions in every
soul, whether learned or unlearned, so that we need not
study universals. And this our friar had observed, for
saith he : “ In general conceptions of the soul the crowd
concurs with the wise, but in particulars and specialities
it disagrees and errs.” 2 And for this very reason he
condemns Aristotle and Galen, “ because they concerned
themselves with generals and universals, and continued
to old age, consuming life in common and worthless
things, not discerning the paths to those great secrets.” 3
Let not us do as those heathens did, though in this very
point the greatest part of the world follows them. Let
us rather follow where Nature leads, for she having im¬
pressed these universals in our minds hath, not done it
in vain but to the end we should apply them to outward,
sensible particulars4 5 and so attain a true experimental
knowledge, which in this life is our only crown and
perfection.6

If a man should rest in the bare theory of husbandry
and only read Vergil’s Georgies, never putting his hand
to the plough, I suppose this theory could not help him
to his daily bread. And if we rest in the notions and
names of things, never touching the things themselves,6

1 Quo communia pauci sunt valoris, nec proprie sequenda nisi prof ter
particularia.

2 In communibus animi conceptionibus vulgus concordat cum sapi-
entibus ; in particularibus vero et propriis err at et discordai.

3 Quia in communibus et universalibus se occupaverunt , et perducti
sunt ad senectutem , vitam consumentes in pejoribus et vulgatis , nec vias
ad hcec seer eta magna perceperunt.

4 We must remember that John Locke was already in the world.

5 Because the great realisations are also a matter of experimental
knowledge. It may appear at first sight that Vaughan is speaking of
external knowledge only, but he knew the correspondence between things
within and without, between the physical and spiritual worlds.

6 This is the test which we seek in respect of the previous statement.

414

Ruphrates

we are likely to produce no effects, nor to cure any
diseases, without which performances philosophy is use¬
less and not to be numbered amongst our necessaries.
But how false this is God knows, and man also may
know it if he considers but those two obstructions >of
life — sickness and poverty. But they are not only
effects that are wanting to Aristotle’s philosophy, but
even his theory is for the most part false ; and where
it is true it is so slight and superficial that it doth not
further us at all. He is none of our auxiliaries, believe
it, but the very remora to all natural discoveries, and he
hath for many ages not only obstructed but extinguished
the truth. Much might be said of this fellow and his
ignorance, which is not more gross than perverse. I
omit to speak of his atheism and the eminency of his
malice, which was not only destructive to the fame of
the old philosophers — whose books this scribbler burnt —
but even to the happiness and progress of posterity,
whom he robbed of those more ancient, more excellent
and invaluable monuments.1

I have digressed thus far to correct this scabby sheep,
who hath spoiled a numerous flock ; and the rather be¬
cause of a late creeping attempt of some of his friends,
who acknowledge him their dictator and the father of
their human wisdom ; and such indeed he is. But when
they tell us — who write against him — that we do but
restore "old heresies, when indeed we oppose an atheist,
and one that denied the creation of the world and the
dear immortality of our souls, they must give us leave
to be a little angry with them, since we must lay the
heretic at their doors : for they are the men that maintain

Notions and names are images of the mind, symbols and sacraments of
inward realities. As long as we rest in these we shall in no wise heal
the miseries of the soul, nor indeed the outward sickness, or the poverty
within and without.

1 The works of Aristotle at large are tb„e best answer to the charges in
chief of Vaughan, perhaps especially to that of atheism, as to which, in
addition to their evidence, we have the testimony of his dying words.

4H

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♦

him. In. the mean time, if they are in earnest and think
us guilty of any heresy let them publicly shew wherein,
and we shall not fail to give them an account of our
sense and their misinterpretations. For our part, we
had not troubled them at this time, had not one of them
darkly and timorously signified 1 that we teach a new
philosophy and new divinity. To whom I shall return
no answer but this : that before he undertakes to judge
what philosophy or divinity is new he should first en¬
deavour to understand the old. But this is a step out
of my way and that I may return to the matter in hand,2
I shall now resume my discourse of earth and water ; and
those sure are sensible substances, not universals and
chimaeras, such as the peripatetics fancy when they couple
Nature and nothing.

By earth I understand not this impure, feculent body
on which we tread but a more simple pure element,
namely, the natural central salt-nitre.3 This salt is fixed
or permanent in the fire, and it is the sulphur of Nature,
by which she retains and congeals her Mercury. When
these two meet, I mean the pure earth and the water,
then the earth thickens the water, and — on the contrary —
the water subtiliates the earth ; and from these two
there riseth a third thing — not so thick as earth nor so
thin as water — but of a mean, viscous complexion — and
this is called Mercury, which is nothing else but a com¬
position of water and salt.4 For we must know that
these two are the prime materials of Nature, without
which she can make no sperm or seed. Nor is that all,
for when the seed is made it will never grow to a body,
nor can it be resolved and disposed to a further genera¬
tion unless these two are present and also co-operate with
it. This we may see all the year long, by a frequent and
daily experience. For when it rains this heavenly water

1 A marginal note gives the initials T. P.

2 rb irporepov. 3 See ante , p. 405.

4 Hoc falsurn est says an old MS. note in my copy of Euphrates.

416

Euphrates

*

meets with the nitre that is in the earth and dissolves it ;
and the nitre with his acrimony sharpens the water, so
that this nitrous water dissolves all the seeds that are in
the ground. And thus solution is the key of generation,
not only in our Art but in Nature also, which is the Art
of God. We need not speak much more of the earth,
for these few words, if rightly understood, are sufficient
and carry in them a deeper sense than an ordinary reader
will perceive. I know there is another solar, oriental
earth, which is all golden and sulphureous, and yet is not
gold but a base, contemptible thing that costs nothing,
for it may be had for the taking up.1 This is the earth
of Ethiopia, that hath all colours in it.2 This is that
Androdamas of Democritus,3 the green Duenech4 and
sulphur that never touched the fire, which — if it be
resolved — then it is our glassy Azoth,5 or vitriol of
Venus philosophical.

This is enough as to the nature of the earth ; and
now we will speak of the water. This element is the
deferent or vehiculum of all influences whatsoever. For
what efflux soever it be that proceeds from the terrestrial
centre the same ascends and is carried up in her to the
air. And on the contrary all that comes from heaven
descends in her to the earth, for in her belly the.' inferior
and superior natures meet and mingle ; nor can they be
manifested without a singular artifice. Hence it is that
whatsoever is pure in the earth, all that she receives from
the water. And here I mean such pure substances as
are called by the philosophers decomposita. For the eagle

1 I know not on what authority, but Pernety states that Solar Earth is
the Matter of the Work fixed at the red stage. It is called otherwise Sun
of the Sages, or Mine of Gold.

2 Compare the earth of Zion, wherein is all sanctity reflected from the
Zion that is above. Being without money and without price, it may be
said to cost nothing ; and being that which is desired by the wise only,
it may be called contemptible in the sight of the world.

3 A stone which, as its name signifies, was supposed to overcome
poison.

4 A name of antimony. 5 See ante , p. 402.

27

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The Works of Thomas Vaughan

leaves her egg ; that is to say, the water 1 2 leaves her
limosity in the earth ; and this limosity is concocted
into nitre and to other innumerous minerals. We have
formerly told you of two suns or fires, the celestial and
the central. Now both these dispense their effluxions,
or influences, and they, meet in the vapour of the water;
For the Vulcan or earthly sun makes the water ascend
to the region of the air, and here the water is spread
under the superior fires ; for she is exposed to the eye
of the sun and to the pointed ejaculations of all the
fixed stars and planets — and this in a naked, rarefied,
opened body. The air of a truth is that temple where
inferiors are married to superiors ; for to this place the
heavenly light descends and is united to the aereal,
oleous humidity, which is hid in the belly of the water.
This light being hotter than the water makes her turgid
and vital and increaseth her seminal, viscous moisture,
so that she is ready to depose her sperm or limosity,
were she but united to her proper male. But this
cannot be unless she returns to her own country —
I mean to the earth — for here the collastrum 2 or male
resides. To this purpose she descends hither again,
and immediately the male lays hold aipon her, and his
fiery, sulphureous substance unites to her limosity. And
here observe that this Sulphur is the father in all metallic
generations ; for he gives the masculine, fiery soul,
and the water gives the body, namely, the limosity or
heavenly, aqueous nitre, whereof the body — by coagula¬
tion — is made. We must know, moreover, that in this
Sulphur there is an impure, extraneous heat, which gnaws
and corrodes this watery Venus, endeavouring to turn
her to an impure sulphur, such as his own body is. But
this cannot be because of the heavenly seed or light hid
in the aqueous nitre, which will permit no such thing.

1 Among the four living creatures of Ezekiel’s visiofi, the facies aquilce
is always referred to water.

2 I do not find this word in Paracelsus or in any of the lexicons.

4i8

Euphrates

For as soon as the sulphureous, terrestrial heat begins
to work, so soon it awakes and stirs up the heavenly
light, which — being now fortified with the masculine
tincture, or pure fire of the Sulphur — begins to work
on its own body, namely, on the aqueous nitre, and
separates from it the feculent, extraneous parts of the
Sulphur, and so remains by itself — a bright, celestial,
metalline body. * .

Observe then that the tincture or soul of the Sulphur
cannot be regenerated in its own impure body ; but it
must forsake that dark and earthly carcase, and put on
a new, purified body before it can be united to the light
of heaven. This new body springs out of the water,
for the water brought it down from heaven. And
certainly by Water and Spirit we must be all regenerated,
which made some learned divines affirm that the element
of water was not cursed but only that of the earth. Nor
can I here omit the doctrine of St John, who makes the
water one of those three witnesses which attest God here
on earth.1 And much to this purpose is that speech of
St Paul, how that God “ in times past suffered all nations
to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless” — saith he —
cc He left not Himself without witness,” inasmuch as
He gave them “rain from heaven.”2 The benedictions
or blessings that descend from God are not a form of
words, like the benedictions of men. They are all
spirit and essence, and their deferents are natural, visible
substances. And these are the blessings which the
patriarch wished to his son : “ God give thee of the dew
of heaven” from above “and the fatness of the earth”
from beneath.3 He was not ignorant of those blessings
which the God of Nature had enclosed in those natural
things ; and therefore he saith in the same place : “ The
smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord
hath blessed.” 4 And St Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews

1 I St John, v. 8. 2 Acts, xiv, 16, 17.

3 Genesis, xxvii, 28. 4 Ibid v, 27.

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tells us that “ the earth which drinketh in the rain that
cometh oft upon it . . . receiveth blessing from God :
but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and
is nigh unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned.”1

But to explain what this blessing is : we remember we
have written elsewhere that water is of a double com¬
plexion, circumferential and central.2 In the circumfer¬
ence she is crude, volatile and phlegmatic ; but in the
centre she is better concocted, viscous, aerial and fiery.
This central part is soft and saltish, outwardly white and
lunar but inwardly red and solar ; nor can it be well
extracted without a lunar or solar magnet, whose proper
aliment it is, and with which it hath a wonderful sym¬
pathy. Hence that obscure saying of the philosophers,
who when they describe unto us their Mercury give it
this character as most natural — that it adheres to the bodies,
or metals.3 And as Pythagoras saith in the Turba — it
“ follows and attains its companion without fire.” 4 And
therefore it is written in the same book that “ great is
the affinity between Magnesia and iron.” 5 We see indeed
by a vulgar experience that if any ordinary stone stands
long but in common water, there sticks to it a certain
limosity, which the water deposeth. But notwithstanding
all this, and all they say, we must needs affirm that even
their Mercury adheres not to the vulgar metals ; and in
this word Mercury, as in all other terms, they are not a
little ambiguous and subtle. There is indeed a mystery
of theirs in water, and a knotty one, with which many
learned men have been gravelled. And now since we
have mentioned it, we care not much if we speak soberly
of it. There is nothing so frequent and indeed nothing
so considerable in their books as fire and water, but the
reciprocal and confused use of both terms puzzles much,

1 Loc. cit verses 7, 8.

2 Anthroposophia Theomagica.

3 Quod adhceret corporibus .

4 Suum absque igne consequitur socium.

5 Magna est propinquitas inter magnesium et ferrum .

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Euphrates

as when they tell us that their water is their fire.1 Of
this they have written so strangely that I have sometimes
been angry with them ; but amongst them all I found
one had a good will to satisfy me.2 This author confessed
he miscarried two hundred several times, notwithstanding
his knowledge of the true matter ; and this because he
did not know the fire or agent by which the matter is
altered. These misfortunes of his own moved him, it
seems, to a commiseration of posterity ; but I must needs
affirm he hath taken his liberty and expressed' his own
mind after his own way. u Our fire ” — saith he — “ is
mineral, equal, continual ; it vapours not, unless the heat
be too great ; it participates of sulphur ; it dissolves,
calcines and congeals all ; it is artificial to find and not
chargeable ; and it is taken elsewhere than from the
matter.” To all this he adds that at last whereof he
would have us take most notice. “ This fire ” — saith he
— “ is not altered or transmuted with the matter.” He
thought certainly he had spoken enough, and truly so
he hath, but it is to such as know it already.3

For my own part, I have found a certain mineral,
stinking water, which partakes of the nature of Sulphur
and whose preparation is artificial ; which is not of the
essential parts of the matter but accidental and extraneous ;
which vapours not unless it be overheated ; which dis¬
solves, calcines and congeals all, but is not congealed ;
for it is expelled at last by the fire of Nature and goes
off in windy fumes. This menstruous, sulphureous fire

1 Aqua Ccslestis is called fire, for example, and was a synonym of philo¬
sophical Mercury, which is always symbolised as water. Van Helmont
says that ordinary chemists burn and calcine with fire but the sages with
water. Bernard Trevisan speaks of a vapourising fire which does not
consume the matter. As the figurative water does not wet the hands, so
the figurative fire does not burn them. Azoth itself is a moist fire.

2 The allusion is to Pontanus and his EPISTOLA de Lapide PHILO-
SOPHICO, in Operibus quibusdam Chymicis. His misguidance extended
over a period of three years, but finally he found the secret in the CLAVIS
Major of Artephius.

3 A similar remark applies to the tract of Artephius.

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r *

against Nature 1 hath taught me how natural our work is ;
for it doth that here which common water doth in the great
world. In this respect it is called of some philosophers
phlegmay Ros , Aqua nubium— not certainly that it is such,
and therefore let us not deceive ourselves with miscon¬
structions. He that would know the reason of these
terms, let him take account from a most knowing philo¬
sopher. cc It is called water of the clouds ” — saith he —
“ because it is distilled like the dew of May, and is water
of most subtle parts. But the same water is also a most
acid vinegar, which renders the body unmixed spirit. And
as vinegar is of divers qualities, as — for example — it pene¬
trates into the depths and astringes, so doth this water
dissolve and coagulate, yet is not itself congealed — not
being a firm substance.”3 Thus much as to the terms,
and now let us return to the thing itself.

I said this fire effects that in the glass which common
water doth in the great world ; for as this phlegmatic
element coagulates not, nor is it at all diminished, notwith¬
standing that infinite number of individuals which Nature
still produceth, even so it is in our work. For our water
also alters not, though the matter be altered in her belly,
and our very principles generated there — namely, Sulphur
and Mercury philosophical. Nor should any man wonder
that I affirm common water to be incoagulable by heat at
least, for in this I speak not unadvisedly. I know there
are in water some natures coagulable ; but they are not
parts of the water, but of other elements. Nor will I
deny that some phlegm — nay, a very great quantity and
sometimes all — may be retained by mixture with other

1 Raymund Lully and George Ripley enumerate a natural, unnatural or
non-natural and contra-natural fire.

2 Another name of Mercury, or alternatively of the Stone in its white
stage.

3 Aqua nubium vocatur quia distillata est velut ros Maii, tenuissi-
marum partium. Est quoque eadem aqua acetum acerrimum , quod
corpus fecit merum spiritum . Ut enim acetum divers arum qualitatum
est , nempe ut in profundum penetret et astringat , sic hcec aqua solvit et
coagulate no7i autem coagulatur , quia non est de subjecto proprio.

422

natures and seem to be coagulated into stones, and those
sometimes transparent. But coagulation in this sense —
namely, by mixture of parts, as in* meal and water — I
mind not ; but by coagulation I understand a transmuta¬
tion of the substance of mere water into earth or air ; and
this in simple water cannot be. 1 know there is a water
that of itself, without all extraneous additions, will coagu¬
late in a soft heat to a fusible salt, more precious than
gold ; but this is not any water that the eye sees, but
another invisible humidity ; which is indeed everywhere,
“ but is not seen” — saith Sendivogius — C£ until the artist
chooses to manifest it.” 1 This might satisfy as to this
point ; but I will add something more, lest I speak with¬
out reason, especially to those who are not willing to
allow others a better judgment than they have them¬
selves.

The commerce that is maintained between heaven and
earth by the ascent and volatility of water may sufficiently
inform us of what dangerous consequence the coagulation
of this element would be. It is improbable then that the
wise God of Nature should make that humidity coagulable
whose use and office requires it should be otherwise.
For if in the essence of water — -as it is simple water —
there were an astringent, congealing faculty, it would by
degrees attain to a total fixation ; and then there would
be no further generation, either of sperm or bodies.
Reason for it is this : if the water were fixed there would
be no vapour nor cloud, and there being no vapour there
could be no sperm, for the elements cannot meet to make
the sperm but in a vapour. For example, the earth can¬
not ascend unless the water be first rarefied, for in the
belly of the water is the earth carried up ; and if the
earth ascends not, having put off her gross body, and
being subtiliated and purged with the water, then will
not the air incorporate with it ; for the moisture of the
water introduceth the air into the rarefied and dissolved

1 Sed no?i videtur donee artifici placeat.

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earth. And here again as the water reconciled the air to
the earth so doth the air reconcile the water to the fire,
as if it would requite one courtesy with another. For the
air — with its unctuosity and fatness — introduceth the fire
into the water, the fire following the air and sticking to
it, as to its fuel and aliment. It remains now that we
observe that the vapour of the water was the locus or
matrix wherein the other three elements did meet, and
without which they had never come together. For this
vapour was the deferent that carried up the pure virgin
earth to be married to the sun and moon ; 1 and now
again she brings her down in her belly, impregnated with
the milk of the one and the blood of the other, namely,
with air 2 and fire — which principles are predominant in
those two superior luminaries.

But some wise one may argue and tell me that this
vapour, being thus impregnated, may now be coagulated
and fixed, by help of those hot principles of air and fire.
To this I answer that the viscous, seminal part may, but
the phlegm never ; and I will shew as much by an
example. When this vapour is fully impregnated, it
stays no longer in that region but returns presently to
the earth from which it ascended. But how doth it
return ? Certainly not in a violent, stormy precipitation,
like rain, but — as I have written elsewhere3 — it steals
down invisibly and silently. For if it be a vapour, such
as I speak of, <c wherein is fashioned an astral semen of
a certain weight,” 4 then it is neither heard of nor seen

1 The marriage of the Sun and Moon in alchemy is that of the fixed
and the volatile, or otherwise of Sulphur and Mercury. The union
between triplicities is not mentioned under this form of symbolism, for
the philosophers respected their own analogies. We have seen that
Vaughan is in recurring confusion on this subject.

2 The moon is usually referred to the old element of water, but one of
the secret schools is in concurrence with Vaughan on this point, for
important reasons connected with the school of symbolism to which it
belongs.

3 See Lumen de Lumine.

4 In quo est imaginatum semen astrale certi ponderis.

424

till a long time after. But to proceed in what I have
promised to prove, I shall instance in common dew ; for
dew hath in it some small dose of the star-fire. We see
therefore that this humidity comes down silently, for its
enclosed fire keeps it rarefied in the form of air and will
not suffer it to condense to water at that height, as the
vapour of- rain doth. But when it is descended near
the earth it mingles with other crude vapours and —
borrowing from them a great quantity of phlegm — settles
at last into drops.

But before we go any further let us here consider
those words of the son of Sirach. cc Look ” — saith he —
“ on all the works of the Most High, and there are two
and two, one against the other.” 1 In this he agrees
with that little fragment which goes under the name of
Moses, where God teacheth him thus : “ Thou dost
know that I have created a compeer and a contrary to
each creature.”2 I will not peremptorily affirm that
Moses is the author of this piece, or that God taught
him in those very words ; but I affirm that those words
express the truth of God and point at some great mysteries
of His wisdom. Nor will I here omit a considerable
circumstance, namely that this piece hath in it some
Hebrew words, and this proves the author was a Jew —
if not Moses. But to pass by the author and come to
his sense : I say that God created water to oppose it to
the earth ; and this appears by their different complexions
and qualities. For the earth is gross and solid, the water
subtle and fluid ; and the earth hath in her the coagulat¬
ing, astringent power, as the water hath partly in it the
softening, dissolving faculty. The earth then shuts up
herself and in herself the fire, so that there can be no

1 I have not been able to identify this quotation or the author from
whom it is drawn.

2 Scias quod unicuique creaturcE et comftar et contrarium creavi. — See
the Byzantine Collection. The apocryphal literature concerning Moses was
large, including an Ascension or Assumption, an Apocalypse and a book of
Discourses, for which see the Codex PSEUDEPIGRAPHIA of Fabricius.

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generation or vegetation unless the earth be opened, that
the fire may be at liberty to work. This we may see in
a grain of corn, where the astringent, earthy faculty hath
bound up all the other elements and terminated them to
a dry, compacted body. Now, this body, as long as it
is dry — or as our Saviour saith, “ as long as it abideth
alone ” 1 — that is to say, as long as it is without water,
so long it can bear no fruit. But if it falls into the
ground and dies, that is to say, if it be dissolved there
by the humidity of heaven — for death is but dissolution
— then it will bring forth much fruit, as our Saviour
testifieth.

It is the water then that dissolves, and life followeth
the dissolution ; for no sooner is the body opened but
the spirit stirs in it, perceiving in the dissolvent or dewy
water another spirit, to which he desires to be united.
This spirit is the air, enclosed in the dew or water, which
air is called in the philosopher’s books “ the water of oun
sea, water of life which does not wet the hands.”2 But
who will believe that there is a dry water hid in the
moist ? Certainly few, and this Sendivogius tells us of
some sophisters of his acquaintance : “ They will not
believe water to be in our sea, and yet they will be
accounted philosophers.” 3 I have myself known many
such philosophers, and of whom I can say the very same.
But to return to our business ; it is called water of life,
because this air involves in itself a fire, which is life
universal, not yet specified, and therefore it agrees with
all particular lives and is amicable to all kind of creatures.
Now the particular specified fire or life of the grain,
which is the vegetable magnet, attracts to himself the
universal fire or life which is hid in the water, and with
the fire he attracts the air, which is the vestment or body

1 Vaughan is intending to quote St John, xii, 24 : “Except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.”

2 Aqua maris nostri aqua vita: manus no?i'madefaciens.

3 Non credebant aquam esse in mari nostro , et tamen philosophi videri
volebant.

426

Euphrates

of the fire, called by the Platonics cc Chariot of the Soul
and sometimes “nimbus of descending fire.”2 Here
then is the ground upon which the whole mystery of
natural augmentation and multiplication is built, for the
body of the grain of corn is augmented with the aliment
of air, not simple but decompounded, which air is carried
in the water and is a kind of volatile, sweet salt. But
the fire or life of the grain is fortified with the universal
fire, and this fire is involved in the air, as the air is in
the water. And here we may observe that it is not water
only that conduceth to the generation or regeneration of
things but water and fire — that is, water and spirit, or
water that hath life in it. And this, if rightly under¬
stood, is a great manuduction to Divinity.3

To conclude, the sum of all we would say is this : the
roots and seeds of all vegetables are placed in the earth,
in the midst of this dewy fountain, as a lamp is placed
in the midst of oil ; and the fire or life of the seed
attracts to itself the Abryssach or Lessa — I mean, the
juice or gum of the water — as the fire of a lamp attracts
the oil that is round about it. Now when all the air
is drawn out of the water, then attraction ceaseth and
concoction or transmutation begins. But if the crude
water, which was the vehiculum of the air, stays with the
seeds then it hinders concoction, and therefore the sun
and the Archeus4 jointly expel her, so that she takes
wing and returns to the region of the air, where again
she fills her belly with that starry milk and then descends
as before. This is the reason why' there is in Nature
such a vicissitude of showers and sunshines ; for the
showers bring down the aerial nutriment, and when the
plants have attracted it then the sunshines call up the
crude water, which otherwise would hinder digestion

1 Currus animce . 2 Nimbus ignis desce?identis.

3 Presumably because of the strict analogy which obtains, by the
hypothesis, between material and spiritual things, the worlds within
and without.

4 See ante , pp. 403, 404.

427

The Works of Thomas Vaughan .

and congelation. This then is the trade that common
water drives ; but if she could be coagulated this trade
would cease, and all life would cease with it. I have
for many years looked upon her as on a bird that flies
to her nest and from it again, feeding her young ones
and fetching food for them. Nor is this a new fancy
of mine, for some learned men considered as much
before ; in which respect that milky moisture which is
found in her crystal breasts is called by some of them
the milk of birds ; 1 and they have left it written that
“ birds do bring their stone unto them.”

To make an end, observe that there is a great differ¬
ence between this common water and our chemical water
or fire, mentioned formerly out of Pontanus ; 2 for our
water helps coagulation and this hinders it. For if the
phlegm or. crude spirit stays with the air, the air will
never congeal ; and therefore said Sendivogius : “ All

water is congealed by heat, if it be without spirit.” 3
And thus I have demonstrated my position, namely,
that common water is not congealable.

Nothing now remains, nor is there anything hinders,
but that we may safely and infallibly conclude that
simple, crude water feeds nothing ; but the gum or
congealable part of it feeds all things. For this is the
astral balsam 4 and the elemental radical humidity which
being compounded of inferiors and superiors is a restora¬
tive both of spirits and bodies. This is that general,
vital aliment which God Himself provides for all His
creatures, and which is yearly produced and manifested

1 Lac volatilium.

2 See ante, p. 421. It will be observed that in this place Vaughan
discloses the identity of a writer which he had concealed previously.

3 Omnis aqua congelatur calido si est sine spiritu.

4 Balsam, according to Paracelsus, is that essential quality or principle
which preserves things from decay and putrefaction. The astrum is the
virtue or potency which abides in each and all : it is usually described
under the symbolism of fire. The terms are therefore allied closely in
significance. To speak of astral balsam involves therefore a tautology
and I do not remember seeing the combination in Paracelsus or else¬
where.

428

Ruphrates

in the elements by the invisible operation of His Spirit,
that works in all. This hath in it the whole anatomy
of heaven and earth, whose belly is full of light and life,
and when it enters into these lower parts of the world
it overcasts them with a certain viridity, makes them
break forth into flowers and presents us with something
that is very like to the Paradise we have lost. In a
word, this is no human confection but a thing prepared
by the Divine Spirit, nor is it made for vegetables only
but for man also, whom God did sometimes feed with
it.1 This the Scripture tells us, whose authority is above
Aristotle and Galen. For thus I read in Exodus : “ And
it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and
covered the camp : and in the morning the dew lay
round about the host. And when the dew that lay was
gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there
lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on
the ground. And when the children of Israel saw ; it,
they said one to another, It is manna : for they wist not
what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the
bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.” 2 Every
child knows that dew settles into round drops ; and
here Moses tells us that when the phlegmatic humidity
was gone up the congelative part — that stayed behind- —
was a round, small thing, for it retained still the figure
of the drop in whose belly it was hid. This congelative
part is oleous and fusible, and with this also the Scripture
accords, telling us that “ when the sun waxed hot, it
melted.” 3 It is withal of a most facile, quick alteration,
and therefore easily transmutable or convertible into any
form ; and for this reason Moses charged the people to

1 It is an amazing reverie. The postulated ‘‘vital aliment/’ which
contains “ the whole anatomy of heaven and earth ” and is “ full of light
and life,” which also is “prepared by the Divine Spirit,” is a substance
specified by Scripture under the name of manna, a memorable feature of
which is that it would not keep for twenty-four hours but “bred worms
and stank.”

2 Exodus, xvi, 13-15. 3 Ibid., 21.

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leave none of it till the morning. ct But some of them ”
— saith the text — u left of it until the morning, and it
bred worms, and stank ” 1 — whence we may gather that
it is in some degree animal.

We see then that the Spirit of God is still busy with
water, and to this hour moves not only upon it but in it ;
nor do I doubt that this is the ground of that deep
question which — amongst many others — God proposed
to Job : “ Hath the rain a father ? or who hath begotten
the drbps of dew ? ” 2 It is worth our observation that
the children of Israel, when they saw this thing — though
they knew it not — said one to another : “ It is manna.”
For what argues this but that manna — as the word im¬
ports — was some secret gift of God, which they knew
not but had formerly heard of by tradition from their
fathers; and perhaps by such a description as Hermes
gives it in the Zaradi , namely, that it “ ascends from the
earth to heaven ” and “ descends again from heaven to
the earth.”3 And this might make them call it manna,
because it descended with the dew. I question not but
Moses knew it well, though the common people wist not
what it was. For the golden calf could not be burnt to
powder with common fire but with the fire of the altar,
which was not that of the kitchen. This is plain out of
the Maccabees, where it is written that this fire was hid
in a pit and that for many years it was there kept sure
during the captivity.4 But who is so mad as to hide
common fire in a pit and to expect he shall find it there
many years after. Is it not the best course to quench
it and rather drown it in a well than bury it in a pit ?
We doubt not for our part but this fire was far different
from the common, and this the text also tells us, for
when it was brought out of the pit it was not fire but a

1 Exodus, v, 20. 2 Loc. czt., xxxviii, 28.

3 An excerpt from the so-called Smaragdine Tablet or Table OF
Hermes, beginning : Quod superius est sicut quod inferius . It is of
universal authority in alchemy, but it is an exceedingly late production.

4 II Maccabees, i, 19.

43°

thick water.1 The truth is that this mystery belonged
to the Jewish Church, the priests and prophets having
received it from the patriarchs — I mean, from Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, and they from Noah, and all of them
from Adam, as we have proved elsewhere.2 These in¬
deed were the men that planted the world and instructed
posterity ; and these and none other must be those
ancient and first philosophers whom Zadith calls avos
mundi — some of whose terms are cited by him.3

We shall now — before we make an end — repeat all we
have said, and that in a few words, such as shall be
agreeable to Nature and to the parts of the world, as
they have been manifested to us by experience. We
have certainly found that there is nothing above but
the very same is also here beneath, but in a more gross,
material complexion ; for God hath ordained that the
gross and corpulent sperm of inferiors should afford a
body to the animating and subtle influx of their superiors.
Now God hath decreed no union of sperms but of such
as proceed from bodies that are of the same nature and
kind ; for His own word bears Him witness that He
hates confusion or a mixture of seeds that are different,
or of a diverse kind.4 Not unadvisedly then did the
priests or — as Proclus tells us — the founders of the
ancient priesthood affirm that “ heaven is on earth but
after the manner of earthly things, and earth is in heaven
but after the manner of things celestial : ” 5 for otherwise
they could not be of a kind. We say therefore that in
this universe there are four luminaries, whereof two are
celestial and two are central. The celestial are the sun
and moon, and they are known to all the world. The

1 II Maccabees, i, 20. 2 See Magia Adamica.

3 Zadith is known otherwise as Senior and has been quoted under this

name. The tracts passing under it are De Chemia, Aurelia Occulta
and Conclusio Alchemize.

^ See Leviticus, xix, 19.

5 Ccelum esse in terra sed modo terresin , et terrain esse in coelo_ sed
modo ccelesti.

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• The Works of Thomas Vaughan

central indeed are not known and therefore not believed,
for the one is overcast with earth and the other with
water. In the centre then of the earth there is hid a
fire which is of nature solar but more gross than that
which is .in the sun.1 And in the belly of the water
there is carried a viscous, gross air, of a menstruous,
lunar nature, but not so bright and subtle as that which
is in the moon. To be short, the central sun casts into
the belly of the water a masculine, hot salt ; and the
water, receiving it, adds to it her seminal, feminine
limosity, and carries it upon her wings into the region
of the air. Thus we see how the material part of the
seed is made ; and now to this body of it the heaven
gives life, the moon giving it spirit and the sun giving
it soul. And thus are the four luminaries brought to¬
gether, the superior contributing that to the seed which
is subtle and vital, and the inferior that which is corpulent
and material. This seed is carried invisibly in the belly
of the wind and it is manifested in water — I say, in water
as clear as crystal — and out of water it must be drawn,
for there is not under heaven any other body where it
may be found.

I have sought it myself in the common metals, in
quicksilver, in antimony and in regulus of .antimony, also
in regulus of Mars, Venus and Saturn, and of all the
bodies. But I lost .my labour, for I sought it where it
was not. All these errors did I run into after I had
known the true matter ; for having miscarried in my
first attempts upon it I left it as a thing untractable, and
this tergiversation of mine brought me into many in¬
conveniences. I conceived indeed that a vitriol made of
those four imperfect bodies — antimony, iron, lead and
copper — might be that glassy Azoth 2 of Lully whose
spirit or water he hath so magnified in his Testament.

1 Compare SendiVogius : Novum Lumen Chemicum, Tract, xi. : “ In
the centre of the earth there dwells a central sun, the heat whereof
permeates the whole earth even to its surface/’ &c.

2 See ante, pp. 402, 417.

• 432

Euphrates

This indeed clinks finely and may so swell a young head
as to make him turn poet and, like the Delphic devil,
tell a lie in heroics. No less obstructive to me was that
speech of Parmenides in the Turba : “ Take copper or
lead, letting these stand for the grease or blackness, and
tin for the liquefaction.” 1 What can this signify at first
sight but antimony ? And what can this tin that comes
from it by liquefaction be but regulus ? 2 This made
me labour a long time on this feculent, unprofitable body,
supposing of a truth that regulus of antimony was white
lead or tin philosophical. But that we be not deceived,
all these parables relate to another mineral and not to
common antimony, which the Turba condemns in these
words : cc Note ” — saith Cambar — “ or observe that the
envious called the Stone antimony.” 3 But what the
envious called it that certainly it is not. And Basil
Valentine, in his Currus Triump kalis , which he hath
written in the praise of antimony, tells us that <c it has
not been granted by God that Mercury philosophical,
the first substance, quicksilver and the first water of
perfect metals — out of which is composed the great Stone
of ancient philosophers — shall be found in antimony or
extracted therefrom. For this first substance is discovered
in another mineral which has a more potent metallic
action than antimony.” 4 And the same Basil, a little
afterwards, speaking of Stella Martis , delivers himself
thus : “ Many have esteemed this star to be the true
matter of the Stone of the philosophers and believed
themselves to have conceived rightly, because Nature

1 Ads aut plumbum pro pinguedine vel nigredme , et stannum pro
| liquefactione sumite.

2 On the subject of antimony and its regulus, see Basil Valentine :

: Currus Triumphalis, &c.

3 Notandum est quod invidi lapide?n antimonium nuncuparunt.

4 Non tantum illi a Deo concessum est ut in vel ex antinionio inveniatur
Mercu ? ius philosophicus , primum ens, argentum vivum et aqua prhna
7netalloru?n perfectorum , ex quit fit magnus lapis antiquormii philoso-

\phorum. Sed hoc primum ens in alio minerali invenitur , in quo
\metallica operatio altior est quam ratione stibii.

433

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hath formed it of her own accord. But this I deny, for
such persons have left the royal road for impassable rocks
where wild goats and birds of prey make their abode.
It is not to be accounted unto this star that it is the
’matter of the most noble Stone, albeit a most excellent
medicine is concealed therein.” 1

It remains then, Reader, that we lay aside all common
metals, as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin,* lead, antimony
and quicksilver ; for if we seek the sperm in any of these
we shall never find it, because we seek it “ in the metals
of the herd, wherein it is not ” — as Sendivogius hath told
us.2 We must therefore seek another body, which is not
common, nor is it made, by mixture or otherwise, of any
metal that is common, but is a certain black Sulphur
made by Nature and which never touched the fire. This
is that body whereof Albertus Magnus hath thus written :
u A certain metallic body exists in the nature of things ;
it dissolves and decomposes easily : a fortunate physician
shalt thou prove, if thou knowest its preparation.” 3 And
after him his disciple Thomas Aquinas — speaking of the
same minera — cites these notable words out of another
philosopher : “ There is a certain species of metal which
the crowd has never discovered.” 4 This is the metal
we must seek for, and it is hard to find, because we must
not dig to come at it. For if we know where it is we
need no more but stoop and take it up gratis. Yet it
is neither Glauber’s antimony nor common lead, nor is
it a flint stone, nor the marl of Peter Faber, who — after
he had wearied himself and deceived his readers with

1 Plerique putarunt hanc stellam esse materiam veram lapidis philo-
sophorum , cogita?ites se veraciter hoc imaginari , quia natura stellam hanc
sponte sua formavit . Ego vero nego. Hi viri , regia vibt relicth, per
avias rupes , ubi ibices habitant , et prcedatrices aves nidificant , iter insti-
tuunt. No 7i id debetur huic stellce , ut materia sit lapidis ?iobilissimi , licet
in eo latet medicina optima.

2 In metallis vulgi , in quibus non est.

3 Daturin rerum natura corpus metallicum quoddam, facilis solutionis ,
facilisque putrefactionis ; si prceparationem ejus nostifelix medicus eris.

4 Est qucedam species metalli quam gens nunquam invenit.

434

discourses of antimony and sublimate with salts of
common metals — sought the Sulphur at last in this clod
or marga , as he calls it.1 But to pass by these fooleries
and come to a conclusion : I say that this black Sulphur
is the male, which being found we are in the next place
to seek the female. And here observe that God Almighty
hath in particular bodies made no difference of sexes, but
only in the animal kingdom ; for in vegetables and
minerals there is no such thing. We see that in grains
of corn — suppose, of wheat — there is no division into
males and females, for the truth is they are all males, and
God hath allowed them no female but the universal one,
namely, water, whose viscous, general seed joining with
the particular seed and spirit that is in the grain is
therewith fermented and congealed into the same nature
with the grain itself and so propagates and multiplies the
corn. Even so it is in metals, for every one of them is
masculine, sulphureous and choleric. Nor hath God
ordained that any of them should propagate and multiply
the other, either naturally or artificially, though we deny
• not but they may be multiplied by help of that seed
wherein God hath placed the blessing of multiplication.
In metals then there is no distinction or difference of
sexes, so that out of them it is impossible to extract
masculine and feminine sperms, for such cannot be
extracted but from bodies that are male and female,
which metals are not. For if they were, they would
propagate without art, God having so ordained it. It is
plain then that metals — being not male and female —
breed within themselves no seed, and by consequence
cannot give that which they have not.2 For the truth is,

1 According to Fabre, philosophical Sulphur is the igneous part of
philosophical Mercury, and it is found — together with sophic Salt — in a
certain figurative butter or fatness, which is presumably the marga
referred to by Vaughan.

2 This is at issue with Sendivogius, who says that common Mercury
“contains metallic seed,” and so also do “the other metals.” — Novum
Lumen Chemicum, Tract . vi.

435

The Works of ' Thomas Vaughan

the seed whereof they spring is that general seed of the
elements, namely, a certain humidity which appears — as
Sendivogius tells us — in the form of a fat water.1 This
water is their seed, their mother and their female ; for of
this they were originally made, and if in this they be
again dissolved, then the child will attract the mother
to it and convert her totally to his own nature ; and on
the contrary, the spirit of the mother will multiply the
spirit of the child and exalt it to a perfection more than
ordinary.

This is the way, and besides it there is none ; for
there is no water under heaven — from what bodies
soever it be extracted — that hath in it the multiplying*
virtue but this one water, which God hath blessed. And
here though I seem to speak indifferently of metals, yet
do not I mind the common, for their spirits have been
mortified by the fire. Take therefore our Sulphur —
which never touched the fire and whose life is wholly
in him. Join this living male to a living female, for
in this — as I have elsewhere intimated2 — lies all the
mystery, namely, in the union of a particular spirit
to the universal, by which means Nature is strangely
exalted and multiplied. Labour therefore to unite these
two substantially and thoroughly ; and thou canst not
miss it if thou knowest the applications. For suffer me
to tell thee a secret — that the application of actives to
passives — I mean the manner of it — is the greatest
difficulty in all the art.

Farewell, Reader, and enjoy these my labours, which
I freely communicate to thee, not — I’ll assure thee — out
of any design ; for I seek not my own glory but that of
God, and thy benefit.

1 In forma aqua ? finguis.

2 The reference is to Anima Magica Abscondita.

43 6

A SHORT APPENDIX BY WAY OF AD MO NT- *

TION TO THE READER

It was not my intention to add anything unto what
has been already written ; but when I reflect on those
vexations I have endured myself in the pursuit of this
science, I begin to think 1 have not said enough. To
be a little more plain then : Know, Reader, that whoso¬
ever seeks the Philosopher’s Mercury in metals, of what
kind soever they be, is already out of the way ; 1 for that
Philosophic Mercury so much talked of is a water, and
in metals water there is none ; for the Sulphur hath not
only congealed it there but hath withal dried it up. This
is evident in common quicksilver and antimony, which
of all metalline bodies are the most crude ; and yet — as
crude as they are — their water is exsiccated by their fire.
For if we force them into a fume that fume settles not
to a liquid spirit but into dry flowers. This made the
philosophers seek a more crude minera, whose fume
was moist and would settle into water, as being not yet
mastered by the Sulphur. Such there was none but the
Mother of Mercury, or the First Matter, whereof Nature
makes the common mercury, and this also they called
quicksilver and a viscous water — for such it is. In this
minera the mercurial vapour was not so dry but it would
settle into water, and with this water they dissolved the
metalline bodies ; for the moist fume of this minera
reduced the metalline dry fumes, so that both turned
into one water ; and this they called Mercury philo-

1 This is the universal testimony of all instructed alchemists, and it
seems strange that in the second half of the seventeenth century it should
have been thought necessary to reaffirm the fact.

437

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

sophical and duplicated Mercury. On this point I need
not say more ; and if they be not wilfully blind, here is
light enough for our metalmongers, and especially for
those confident roasters of antimony who — over the
smoke of that drug — dream of mysteries, as if they were
transported into a certain capnomancy. For my part I
deny not but antimony may be reduced to a mercurial
water, though I know not to what purpose, for neither
our Mercury nor our Tincture riseth from it, if Basil
Valentine may be believed.1 True it is, the philosophers
use it, but as a mere instrument that goes off again, and
so they use even kitchen fire ; but it is not their matter
or subject, and much less is common gold, as some
ignorants would have it.

There is indeed another antimony, which is our
Sulphur2 and the subject of the whole Art ; but this
is so hard to find — and when it is found so hard to
prepare — that it hath almost cast me into despair. How¬
ever, if thou dost seriously consider what I have written,
and what hath fallen from me in some places with as
much purpose as caution, then verily neither the thing
itself nor the preparation of it can be hid from thee.
To make an end, know that the philosophers have two
Mercuries or waters, the First and Second. Their first
is the spirit of our antimony ; and here understand me
rightly. Their second is that of Mercury and Venus
philosophical ; and this of itself is all-sufficient. But
to shorten time the philosophers ferment it with common
gold.3 I have now spoken more than discretion can well

1 The testimony of Basil Valentine is that “ the true tincture of anti¬
mony, which is the medicine of men and metals,” is prepared only from
the ore of antimony and not from the commercial product. It is not,
however, that universal tincture which is understood as the Philosopher’s
Stone. See the appendix to CURRUS Triumphalis on the Fixed
Tincture of Antimony — otherwise, the Fire-Stone.

2 According to Basil Valentine, antimony contains Mercury, Sulphur
and Salt, regarded as “ the three great principles of health.”

3 Vaughan should have remembered that common gold is dead —
according to the philosophers — and cannot be therefore a ferment.

43 8

Euphrates

allow of ; but the sense of those difficulties I have met
withal hath carried me thus far. Howsoever, be thou
cautious in thy construction, lest the name of antimony
deceive thee ; for so thou mayst run into a fruitless
expense of time and substance. This is all I have to
say, and now what use to make of it is in thy power. If
thou canst believe, it is well ; if not, forbear from this
Art altogether, or thou wilt live to punish thy own
incredulity.

439

\

i

%

APPENDICES

V

y*

* L '

v

>

/

1

AQUA VIT7E, NON VITIS : A NOTE-BOOK
OF THOMAS VAUGHAN

This precious manuscript is preserved in the British Museum
and is numbered 1741 in the Sloane collection. It is a small
quarto, written before and behind, with a number of blank leaves
in the middle part. The full title is as follows :

Aqua Vitje, non Vitis ; Or the Radical Humiditie of Nature,
mechanically and magically dissected by the conduct of Fire
and Ferment, as well in the particular Bodies of Metalls
and Minerals as in its seminal, universal Forme and Chaos. .
By Thomas Vaughan, Gent. Of this there are 35 leaves,
containing chemical and other recipes, headed : Ars Tota :
ut inventa est in diebus Conjugii mecs dulcis simas : una cum
variis Nitri et Salium Prcsparationibus. Immediately after
the general title — that is to say, on the next leaf — is this
inscription : Ex Libris Th: and Reb: Vaughan, 1651,
Sept. 28. Quos Deus conjunxit , quis separabit ? And then :
Sitivit anima mea ad Deum Elohim , ad Deum El vivum.
Quando nam veniam et visit abo faciem Dei /Elohim ! T. R. V .
1658.

There are processes for Vegetable Mercury, mineral Mercury,
notes on the arcana of nitre, a Cabala Metallorum, sive Lapis
de. Rebis , a collection of particular secrets appertaining ad rem
medicam. There are also quotations from Turba Philosophorum
and an occasional invocation or prayer, breathing fervent piety. A
Liber Arcanorum follows, and confused with these leaves there
are those private Memoranda concerning Vaughan’s wife and
himself which are the important parts of the document. They
are sometimes on the obverse and sometimes on the reverse side.

443

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

In the hinder part of the book, but written the reverse way,
there are further miscellaneous recipes, including one called
Aqua Rebecca, with the * explanation : Quam sic voco, quoniam
hanc ex sacra scriptura ostendehat mihi conjux mea charissima .
Ostendebat ( inquam), nec unquam aliter invenissem. It is said to
be a noble arcanum , alike in medicine and alchemy. Such titles
as Ars Tota and Arcana qu^dam particularia recur
frequently, but introducing different experiments. There are also
a Via Brevis et Levis, Vl® Varl® et Ver.® ad Trimark
A quam Metallicam. This hinder side of the document is also
interleaved with personal memoranda and particulars concerning
his wife. It contains 69 leaves, written for the most part on
both sides of the paper.

Of the processes I will give one specimen, because it deals
with a subject which is often mentioned in the text of Vaughan’s
published writings : Sequitur Extractio Humiditatis Viscosje,
et Spermatic®, pro Opere Secundo. JVLagnesiam et Chalybem
Commisce . Adde parum Sulphuris aquis {sic), sive Resina argentiva ,
puta partem quartam. Tunc extrahe et fiat. Laus Deo, Amen,
T. R. V. 1662, August the 8th. It is of course impossible to
say whether this represents an experiment actually performed or
one that it was intended to put in practice at a future time. A
similar remark applies to all the recipes. The uses, if any, of the
resultant are not indicated, and it may be wondered vaguely
what could be expected to follow from the combination of Steel,
Magnesia and Sulphureous Water, called otherwise Argentiferous
Resin. It is likely, however, that these are arbitrary names, to
be understood alchemically and not in any literal sense : as to the
things which they signified, those — if there- be any — who wish
to pursue the subject can take their choice among the multitude
of explanations which darken counsel in the Hermetic lexicons.
They are not likely to find that they have drawn appreciably
nearer to an understanding of the First Universal Matter, accord¬
ing to the recognised philosophers or according to Thomas
Vaughan.

With the personal memoranda we enter into a different field,
and I propose to present them in extenso , as I have done on one
previous occasion. They are valuable for the undesigned insight
which they offer into the character of Eugenius Philalethes on
its human, domestic side. The “irascible alchemist” was

444

Appendices

assuredly a loving husband, and I am certain that the bond
between Thomas and Rebecca Vaughan went deep on the spiritual
side, while it seems to have been welded closely on the side of
earthly union. The memoranda hereinafter follow.

MEMORISE SACRUM

I

This happened on a Sunday night, towards the daybreak, and
indeed I think it was morning light. On the 13th of June I
dreamed that one appeared to me and purged herself from the
scandalous contents of certain letters which were put into my
hands by a certain false friend. Then she told me that her
father had informed her that she should die again about a quarter
of a year from that time she appeared to me : which is just the
14th of September next, and on the 28th of the same month
we were married. It may be my merciful God has given me
this notice of the time of my dissolution by one that is so dear
to me, whose person representing mine signified my death, not
hers, for she can die no more. Great is the love and goodness
of my God and .most happy shall I be in this interpretation if I
may meet her again so soon and begin the heavenly and eternal
life with her, in the very same month wherein we began the
earthly : which I beseech my good God to grant us for his dear
Son and our Saviour’s sake, Christ Jesus. Amen !

(Written on the 14th of June, the day after I dreamed it.
1658.)

II

N.B.—N.B.—N.B. 1658

On Friday the 18th cf July, I myself sickened at Wapping,
and that night I dreamed I was pursued by a stone horse, as
my dear wife dreamed before she sickened, and I was grievously
troubled all night with a suffocation at the heart, which continued
all next day most violently, and still it remains, but with some little
remission. On the Saturday following, being the 17th of July, I
could not, for some secret instinct of spirit, stay any longer at
Wapping, but came that very night to Sir John Underhill ; and

445

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

the Sunday following after that night I understood that Mr High-
gate was dead, as my heart gave me at Wapping a few days before.
The will of my God be done : Amen and Amen ! That night
I came to Sir John, -I dreamed I had lent 20 pounds to my cousin
J. Wakebross, and that his mother had stolen the money and I
was like to lose it. But my cousin advised me to give out I had
received it and he would secure it for me. I pray God my dear
wife’s things do not miscarry !

III

My most dear wife sickened on Friday in the evening, being
the 1 6th of April, and died the Saturday following in the evening,
being the 17th. And was buried on the 26th of the same month,
being a Monday in the afternoon, at Mappersall in Bedfordshire,
1658. We were married in the year 1651, by a minister whose
name I have forgotten, on the 28th of September. God of his
infinite and sure mercies in Christ Jesus, bring us together again
in Heaven, whither she is gone before me, and with her my heart
and my faith not to be broken j and this thou knowest, oh my
God ! Amen !

IV

• *

On the same day my dear wife sickened, being a Friday, and
at the same time of the day, namely in the evening, my gracious
God did put into my heart the secret of extracting the oil of
Halcali, which I had once accidentally found at the Pinner of
WakefieM in the days of my most dear wife. But it was again
taken from me by a most wonderful judgement of God, for I
could never remember how I did it, but made a hundred attempts
in vain. And now my glorious God (Whose name be praised for
ever) has brought it again into my mind, and on the same day my
dear wife sickened ; and on the Saturday following, which was
the day she died on, I extracted it by the former practice : so that
on the same day, which proved the most sorrowful to me, what¬
ever can be, God was pleased to confer upon me the greatest joy
I can ever have in this world after her death. The Lord giveth
and the Lord taketh away : blessed be the name of the Lord.
Amen! T. R. V.

446

Appendices

v

To the end we might live well and exercise our charity, which
was wanting in neither of us, to our power, I employed myself all
her life time in the acquisition of some natural secrets, to which
I had been disposed from my youth up; and what I now write,
and know of them practically, I attained to in her days, not before
in very truth, nor after, but during the time we lived together at
the Pinner of Wakefield ; and though I brought them not to per¬
fection in those dear days, yet were the gates opened to me then
and what I have done since is but the effect of those principles.
I found them not by my own wit or labour, but by God’s blessing
and the encouragement I received from a most loving, obedient
wife, whom I beseech God to reward in Heaven for all the happi¬
ness and content she afforded me. I shall lay them down here in
their order, protesting earnestly and with a good conscience, that
they are the very truth ; and here I leave them for his use and
benefit to whom God in his providence shall direct them. On
the 28th August, being Saturday morning after daylight, God
Almighty was pleased to reveal to me after a wonderful manner,
the most blessed estate of my dear wife, partly by herself and
partly by His own Holy Spirit, in an express disclosure, which
opened to me the meaning of those mysterious words of S. Paul:
“For we know, if our earthly house of this tabernacle, etc.”
Bless the Lord, O my soul! and all that is within me, bless his
holy name! T. R. V.

Quos Deus conjunxit, quis separabit?

VI

1658

The dream I wrote on the foregoing page is not to be neglected,
for my dear wife, a few nights before, appeared to me in my
sleep and foretold me the death of my dear father ; and since it is
really come to pass, for he is dead and gone to my merciful God,
as I have been informed by letters come to my hand from the
country. It concerns me therefore to prepare myself and to make
a right use of this warning which I received from my merciful
and most loving God, Who used not to deal such mercies to all
men ; and Who was pleased to impart it to me by my dear wife,

447

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

to assure me she was a saint in His holy Heavens, being thus em¬
ployed for an Angel and a messenger of the God of my salvation.
To Him, be all praise and gjory ascribed in Tesus Christ for ever!
Amen! T. R. V.

VII

1 658

The month and the day I have forgotten, but having prayed
earnestly for remission of sins I went to bed and dreamed that I
lay full of sores in my feet and clothed in certain rags, under the
shelter of the great oak, which grows before the courtyard of my
father’s house, and it rained round about me. My feet that were
sore with boils and corrupt matter troubled me extremely, so that
being not able to stand up I was laid all along. I dreamed that
my father and my brother W., who were both dead, came unto
me and my father sucked the corruption out of my feet so that
I was presently well, and stood up with great joy and looking on
my feet they appeared very white and clean and the sores were
quite gone ! Blessed be my good God ! Amen !

VIII

N.B.—N.B.—N.B.

When my dear wife and I lived at the Pinner of Wakefield
I remember I melted down equal parts of Talc and the Eagle
with Brimstone, repeating the fusion twice. And after that,
going to draw Spirit of Salt with Oil of Glass, I chanced (as I
think) to mingle some Bay-Salt, or that of Colla Maris, with
the former composition and I had an oil with which I did
miracles. But assaying to make more of it I never could effect
it, having forgotten the composition but now I am confident
the Eagle was in it, for I ever remember the manner of the first
fume that came out, and could never see the like again, but
when I worked on the Eagle, though I never afterwards worked
on her prepared as at that time. I know also by experience that
Talc and Baysalt together will yield six times more spirit, than
either of both will yield by itself. And that passage of Rhasis
confirms me, when he mentions Aqua Salis trium generum ; but
above all that one word of Lullie, namely, Petra Salis, and

448

Appendices

especially that enumeration of materials which he makes in his
Ars Intellectiva, Nitrum, Sal, Sulphur, Vapor, than which
nothing could have been said more expressly. And yet I doubt
I shall be much troubled, before I find what I have lost, so little
difference there is between Forgetfulness and Ignorance.

T. R. V. 1658.

Quos Deus conjunxit, quis separabit ?

IX

Left at Mrs Highgate* s

1. One flat trunk of my dear wife’s, with her maiden name
upon it.

2. Another cabinet trunk of my dear wife’s in which is her
small rock and Bible, and her maiden Bible I have by me.

3. One great wooden box of my dear wife’s in which is all
her best apparel, and in that is her great Bible with her practice
of piety and her other books of Devotion.

4. Another wooden box with pillows in it and a sweet basket
of my dear wife’s.

5. One large trunk of my dear wife’s with my name upon
it, in which are the silver spoons. And in the drawers are two
small boxes, one with a lock of my dear wife’s hair, made up
with her own hands ; and another with several small locks in it.

6. One pair of grate irons with brass knobs and a single pair
with brass knobs, a fire shovel, tongs and bellows ; my dear
wife’s little chair, a round table, joint stool and close stool, with
a great glass full of eye-water, made at the Pinner of Wakefield,
by my dear wife and my sister Vaughan, who are both now
with God.

X

1659. April 8th. Die $

In the evening I was surprised with a sudden heaviness of
spirit, but without any manifest cause whatsoever ; but I thank
God a great tenderness of heart came along with it, so that I
prayed most earnestly with abundance of tears, and sorrow for
sin. I fervently solicited my gracious God for pardon to myself
and my most dear wife ; and besought Him to bring us together

449 ^9

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

again in His Heavenly Kingdom, and that He would shew me His
mercy and answer my prayers by such means and in such a way
as might quicken my spirit, that I might serve Him cheerfully
and with joy praise His name.

I went that night to bed after earnest prayers and tears and

towards the daybreak, or just upon it, I had this following dream :

I thought that I was again newly married to my dear wife and

brought her along with me to shew her to some of my friends,

which I did in these words. Here is a wife, which I have not

chosen of myself, but my father did choose her for me,1 and

asked me if I would not marry her, for she was a beautiful wife.

He had no sooner shewed her to me, but I 'was extremely in

love with her and I married her presently. When I had thus

said, I thought, we were both left alone, and calling her to me,

I took her into my arms and she presently embraced me and

kissed me ; nor had I in all this vision any sinful desire, but such

a love to her as I had to her very soul in my prayers, to which

this dream was an answer. Hereupon’ I awaked presently with

exceeding great inward joy. Blessed be my God ! Arnei* !

«

XI

April the qth. Die 1659

I went to bed after prayers and hearty tears and had this dream
towards daybreak. I dreamed I was in some obscure, large house,
where there was a tumultuous, raging people, amongst whom I
knew not any but my brother H. My dear wife was there with
me, but having conceived some discomfort at their disorder, I
quitted the place, and went out, leaving my dear wife behind me.
As I went out I considered with myself, and called to mind some
small, at least seeming, unkindnesses I had used towards .my dear
wife in her lifetime, and the remembrance of them being odious
to me I wondered with myself that I should leave her behind me
and neglect her company, having now the opportunity to converse
with her after death. These were my thoughts, whereupon I
turned in, and taking her along with me, there followed us a
certain person, with whom I had in former times revelled away
many years in drinking. I had in my hand a very long cane,

1 This was not true of our temporal marriage, nor of our natural
parents, and therefore it signifies some greater mercy.

450

Appendices

and at last we came to a churchyard, and it was the brightest
daylight that ever I beheld : when we were about the middle of
the churchyard, I struck upon the ground with my cane at the
full length and it gave a most shrill, reverberating echo. I turned
back to look upon my wife, and she appeared, to me in green silk
down to the ground, and much taller, and slenderer than she was
in her lifetime, but in her face there was so much glory, and ■
beauty, that no Angel in Heaven can have more. She told me
the noise of the cane had frighted her a little, but saying so she
smiled upon me and looked most divinely. Upon this I looked
up to Heaven, and having quite forgot my first apprehension,
which was true, namely that she appeared thus to me after her
death, I was much troubled in mind lest I should die before her,
and this I feared upon a spiritual account, lest after my death
she might be tempted to do amiss, and to live otherwise than she
did at present. While I was thus troubled, the cane that was in
my hand suddenly broke, and when it was broken, it appeared
no more like a cane, but was a brittle, weak reed. This did put
me in mind of her death again, and so did put me out of my fear,
and the doubts I conceived, if I died before her. When. the reed
was broken, she came close to me, and I gave her the longer half
of the reed, and the furthest end and the shortest I kept for my¬
self ; but looking on the broken end of it, and finding it ragged,
and something rough, she gave me a knife to polish it,, which I
did. Then we passed both out of the churchyard, and turning
to the gentleman that followed me. I asked him if he would go
along with us, but he utterly refused ; and the truth is, he still
follows the world too much. Then I turned to my dear wife to
go along with her, and having so dbne I awaked.

By this dream, and the shortest part of the reed left in my
hand, I guess I shall not live so long after her, as I have lived
with her. Praised be my God ! Amen !

XII

April the 16th , at night. 1659

I dreamed that a flame of a whitish colour should break out at
the toes of my left foot, and this was told me in my dream by a
strange person and of a dark countenance. It is to be noted, that
this was the very night on which my dear wife died, 1658 ; it

451

The W irks of Thomas V aughan

being a Saturday night and but one short of the number, or true
account. It may be the disease that shall occasion my death, was
shewed me on the night wherein she died, for true it is, that in
my left foot there is now a dangerous humour fallen down, and
lodged under my very heel, and upon the lifting of my leg up¬
ward, it pains me strangely. It fell first into my knee, and
what it may come to I know not, unless it will end in a gout ;
but it first of all troubled me in the sinews, and caused a con¬
traction of them, and then I had a dull pain and still have in the
uppermost joint of the thigh. T. R. V.

XIII

Many years ago, at Paddington, before my distemper in the
liver seized me, there appeared to me twice in the same night in
two several dreams, a young, strange person, not unlike to him
who appeared in a strange manner to me at Edmond Hall in
Oxford. His countenance was dark, and I believe it is the evil
genius, but in this last dream, I saw him not so clearly, my life,
I bless God for it, being much amended. The evil he so gladly
signifies to me, frightens me not, for I am ready for death,
and with all my heart shall I welcome it, for I desire to be dis¬
solved and to be with Christ, which is far better for me, than to
live, and sin in this sinful body. T. R. V. 1659.

God is. T. R. V. Amen and Amen!

*

452

II

THALIA REDIVIVA: THE LATIN POEMS
OF THOMAS VAUGHAN

I

The Dedication

Ornatissimo Viro Domino Mathaeo Herbert,
Institutori suo imprimis suspiciendo.

Accipe primitias, dilecte Herberte, tuosque
Quales formasti, docte Mathaee, modos.

Te mea dissimili sequitur conamine Mu$a,

Pallet ut ad vivas picta tabella ’rosas.

Sic quae mella sacri congessit alumnus Hymetti
Servant libati suavia prima thymi.

II

Aliud

Quae viridi, Mathaee, fuit tibi messis in herba,

Hoc te compensat faenore cocta Ceres.

Non potes in nostri furtivis litibus aevi
Dicere, te segetem non decimasse meam.

Vertumnus

He us ! Vertumne adsum, tumuloque incumbo rapinam
Commeditans : tu quos incepit dextra tumultus
Fugisti, partamque tenes in funere pacem.

Non liceat dormire ; ego te, cineremque superbum
Excutiam somno. Non hie equites peditesque

453

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

Circumstant ; nulla est lateri Rhomphaea, Satelles
Nullus : nulla humeris jactatis laena lacertis
Fluctuat, et nostrum deridet murice pannum.

Praeterit ilia aetas, qua te timuisse necesse
Et tutum fuit ; haud umbras, manesque reclusos
Horremus. Nihil est, si clausis naribus adsto,

Quod metuam, morbos, hircum, excrementaque vermes
Sollicito ; lectusque tuus de stercore versus.

Cur non eloqueris ? ndque palma morebere, nec crus ?
Tende manus : hie sunt tibi vectigalia, census,

Poculaque argentumque auratusque annulus instar
Hannibalis. Sejanus equus tibi ducitur, aut si
Non placeant, praesto est meretrix ; hanc accipe saltern
In foveam, Vertumne. Neque hanc ? quid ? tunc clientem
Deseris ? ut video, nulla est captura sepulchri.

Tolle caput, rauc&que iterum cum voce phalanges
Increpita ; satis est latrare audacter in hostem.

O qualis facies ! recitanda litania nunc est
Si possem ; lupus est, taceoque. Irata Minerva
Non tenuit tales, objecta Gorgone, vultus.

Sunt oculi patres, qui Lyncea, qui Galilaeum
Cum speculo vicere ; et prophylactica Galli
Strumaque viderunt : quibus ipso Hispanus in ovo
Emicuit dolus ; hie Scoti tentoria vidit
Prima, novasque faces in sidere Cassiopeae.

Nunc nihil hie praeter caecosque cavosque meatus,
Pejoresque isto spurcoque foramine per quod
Claudius, impleto jam ventre, cacare solebat.

Depasta est facies, magnaeque proboscidis uncus
Depastus, totoque exesus fornice nasus.

Formosum faceret Tongillum et Rhinoceroten.

O patulam gingivam ! ubi nunc tua pharmaca, malas
Quae radant, scabrosque albent rubigine dentes ?

Haud equidem infelix tales pandebat hiatus
Hecuba, cum misso vultu meliore, pudendis
Faucibus oblatret Graecis, rictuque canino.

Tunc humilis tritusque cinis decreta piorum
Excindi petis, et divini lumina verbi
Nocte premi, umbrisque ac sole funalia praefers ?

454

Appendices

Et superesse putas ? Cujus jam brachia fracta
Curaque, multiplicis dispersa cadavera fati
Praesentant ; tua quanta dedit documenta ruina,

Quae speciem immensae cladis, mortesque coactas
Multorum, tumulo Vertumni ostendit in uno ?

Par cinis est, aequale lutum, similesque favilla
Qua constas, milesque triobulus ; aut Agoiaeus,

Quo foetat Quintana, parem coeiestia sortem
Non tribuere. Horum miseras stipendia vitas
Venales faciunt, animasque ut villica porcos
Expendunt pretio. Tu non bibis in nymphaeo
Cum grege ; purpureus tecum commilitat, aut dux ;
Parmosos spernis ; quotiesque ad jurgia currus
Conveniunt, crassa cum majestate precantem
Absque oculis rides, et qui pede claudicat uno.
Nonne pudet duplicasse scelus, miserosque secunda
Morte premi, nec velle istis solatia servis,

Quos tua lignipedes fecit fuga, monoculosque ?

Nunc scio quo tendit tua parsimonia ; promus
Solvendus, meretrixque, et quae nasuta lupanar
Olfecit, rugosa Venus. Respublica tuta est
His instruments. Si vivida vina supersint
Quo pugnabis, habes ; hie tota nocte tibi Mars
In lingua est, spirasque inter tua pocula fumos,
Quales Amsanctus vomit, aut Vesuvius ardens.
Grande stratagema ! Et quo Chinense domabis
Imperium, Budamque atque altos Ottomannos.
Procede, expugna mundum ; tibi serviet orbis
Terrarum, regnique extremo in margine pones,
Arcturumque Crucemque et sidera Medicaea.
Sclopetum loquere et flammas ; tormenta globosque
Ferratos j verbisque tuis, tanquam catapult^,

Disjice vicinas aures : hoc tramite victrix
Palma redit, quaerenda tibi est his moribus. Hoc tu
Hannibalem fecisse putas, cum funera Cannis
Roma ageret, luscoque acies demessa Gradivo est ?
Supremos expende dies, sitque exitus hujus
• Fabellae ante oculos. Quid nunc inconditus iste
Mos tibi profecit ? vel quid sonus, et celeris vox
Juramenta rotans, et lass& opprobria lingua ?

455

The JV 'irks of Thomas Vaughan

Quis te miratur ? vel quis tua fulgura pluris
Esse putat, quam sunt crepitus tibi posteriores ?

His tamen alta malis laturum in sidera nomen
Sperasti te posse tuum nostrosque nepotes
Visurus aliquod Sydus, brutumve hominemve,
Assurgens, Angloque ardentes Hercule caelos.

Appia clausa via est, tumuit qua Julius olim
In Stellas, qua qui expiravit podice, repsit.

Tunc istos, Vertumne, inter numeraberis heros ?
Numinibus si scurra placet, si sancta libido
In trutina Jovis est, et Bacchanalia sacra :

Justius in coelum quis scandet ? apertior ibit :

Porta, et suprema sedeas, Vertumne, cathedrL

Quicunque es, qui scorta, dolos, homicidia, furta
Exerces, caecaeque armamentaria mentis.

Hie studeas ; vocat e tumulo major Cicerone.

In cinere hoc scriptum est, extatque in manibus illis
Quod discas : Brevis est, et transit vita, nihilque
Profeci his telis ! Die, quis necromantica sumit
Haec praecepta sibi, creditque sagacior urnae ?

Non unum invenio, cui consiliarius est mors.

Tu legesque forumque et barbara Causidicorum
Labra moves, majora alio tua praedia fundo
Ut pateant ; addisque tuis male jugera pauca
Pauperis. Haec magna et praeter ludibria fati
Fixa putas ; cum tu tantum examine vero
iEtatem laceras concessam, atque ardua nugis
Seria posthabeas ; quoties improvida tecum
Digeris haec intraque coquis. Mea vota secundet
Si non quae praesens lux est, tamen altera, saltern
Tertia ; nec cernis repentem in saecula mortem
Incautus, credisque dies, ut savia, posse
Te rapere, et stabilem furto producere vitam.
Temporis (heu !) nulla est, annorum nulla rapina,
Quisque suos numeros habet. Altae murmura famae
Nos agitant, properique nimis vestigia fati
Nemo audit, struit hie turrita palatica, montes
Marmoreos ; tetroque alludit regia busto.

Quippe sepulchra etiam sunt ipsa cubilia, quae tot

456

Appendices

Exanimes videre, et tristia funera ; nec stat
Improba posteritas, possitque in limine scribi
Hie vixit. Si vis animae compendia nostrae
Ista petas, quae sola fides mercatur, et alto
Intendas caelo, terramque moramque relinques.

Divitiae verae illae sunt, et vera supellex
Quae divina domos et praedia ponit in astris,

IV

Cynthia

Transierat jam pura dies, et fortior ignis
Coelorum, temerasque ferens in lumine flammas
Phoebus, venturae fecit praeludia nocti
Cynthia cum molles aestus et nutra sensit
Astra, levemque leves errare per aera ventos
Egressa est, hortosque suos floretaque sacra
Intravit, mediisque silens in floribus ibat.

Dumque omnem explorat circa se provida partem,
Excurrunt oculorum ignes, et purior oris
Aura tremit, roscisque halat diapasma labellis.

Luxuriant auro Cfines, dimissaque vestis
Ludentem insequitur specioso syrmate nympham.

Hie gratas umbrarum hiemes et frigora quaerit ;

^Estivas hie sola rosas carpebat, et albis
Intexit rubeas, positoque e vertice peplo
Ipsa genis docuit similes fratrare colores.

Carpit te Narcisse puer, vosque O sua signa
(Nam cecidit, nulloque jacet curante), Ligustra !

Lilia connectit violis, sacrosque amaranthos
Fasciculo rmmiscet ; nodoque maritat in uno
Dispersas florum veneres, speculoque remoto
Et formam faciemque suis agnovit in herbis.

Haec ilia. At vegetam Florae sobolemque micantem
Dum legit, extincta est, obitusque in floribus est flos !
Nunc, O nunc sylvae pereant, animaeque virentes
Hortorum plantaeque ! Et fascia casta valeto !

Ecce ! ruunt Veneres, multoque Cupidine cingunt
Spem vitae studiumque meae ; spoliatur amoenus

457

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Hortulus, et rapto stant moesta rosaria flore.

O si non ultra tentassent, si mea tantum
Cynthia mansisset similis sibi ! perfida mores
Fata regunt, frustraque omnes meliora docemur.
Aureus assurgit, multoque nitore Cupido
Aggreditur nympham, spiratque, superbior ignes.
Nectare distillant alae, et divina volatu
Ambrosia exiliens ccelestes seminat auras.

Utque stetit, vidi celerem librare sagittam
Pennatamque suis plumis ; stat missile fixum,
Accenditque novas non duro in pectore flammas.
Ilia ardet, clademque suam coelestibus ambit
Blanditiis, ipsoque sinu fovet inscia mortem.

O toties miseranda ! deam hanc impure Cupido
Faedasti, simul ora tuam superantia matrem.

Ast ego prospiciens sensi discedere vultus
Purpureos, niveosque mori cum virgine flores.
Nulla rubent tepidis immixta roseta pruinis,

Nec tremulae ludunt inter sua lilia flammae.
Marcet tanta venus, tristique in vertice sylva
Aurea dispersis pendet neglecta capillis.

Nil manet Elysii nullusque hyacinthus, ut olim,
Vernat in his labiis ; tota est in funere Tempe.
Non nego (sit tua justa licet sententia) coelos
Crudeles ; lapsae stellae revocantur in altum
Ex oculis, totoque excedunt sydera vultu.
Ingemuit, flevitque suum mea Cynthia fatum
Tristior, et nulla fcelix albedine mansit.

V*

In Chloen Intuentem

Affixus formosa Chloe dum ludit occellis,

Et tacito in vultus labitur igne meos.

Obvia luminibus mea forma occurit apertis,
Hospitat inque oculis transanimata suis.

Hie et aquas penetratque, ignes vitreasque pupillas
Plena vel aerumnis pingit imago meis.

Flevit sacra Chloe, formosaque lumina plorat
In speculum tantis facta fuisse malis.

458

Appendices

VI

In Ephemerides J. Kepleri

Ecce ! mori properat dum prodigus annus, et horas
Vrget sydereis in sua fata rotis,

Das, Keplere, novam temeris Echineida coelis ;

Et stupet ad remoram machina tota tuam.

Nunc duraturo radias, Aurora, rubore j
Et prsesens hie est, prseteritusque dies.

VII

Vitrum Horarium ex Sepulti Mathematici

PULVERE

Sic inclusa tuae respondet mimula dextrae
Et cceli assuetas audet arena vices.

Affectare juvat superos post funera cursus,
Surgitque ex atomis certior hora tuis.

Si numerat, partitque diem tam nescia techna,
Quid facit ad solem doctior umbra suum.

VIII

Ad Virum Eximium D. Thomam Poellum
Cantrevensem S. S. Theologize Doctorem

Est niveae amicus mentis et calens mihi,
Rurique semper degit urbanus comes ;

Nec scire possum, quas meus vices agit.

Non in remotis trutina et pace curiis
Exercet ille lege quod cautum est, scelus ;
Forique tritis litibus, jungit novas.

Non hospes intus rebus haud suis vacat,

Nec ambit arte, quicquid est dispar deo.

At ore fundit ille non inops suo
Rosas, salesque mentis et mares Jocos :
Interque doctos humilis et summus simul
Quos hie solutus perdo, componit dies.

459

The IV 'irks of Thomas Vaughan

IX

Ad Fontem, ex quo Bibere Solita est

Stella

O meae Stellas speculum ! liberque
Suavium, castos ubi pingit ignes
Umbra subridens, et amantis Echo

Muta puellae !

Quam nimis grato querelus susurro
In fugam serpis, viridesque tophi
Pectinas cinnos, vitreoque fundis

Ore fluentem ?

Hac Venus spuma poterit creari
Succubae praestans vetulaeque divae ;

Quae novo formae, fideique solvet

Faedere litem.

Pulchrior vultus, meliorque scaena
Fonte Narcissi facieque fluctus
Hos facit lautos magis, atque nulla

Caede cruentos.

Hie levis albis volitare pennis
Adsolent ludi, veneresque castae ;

Ista cultori dedit unda mortem

Haec mihi vitam.

X

In Stellam Lachrymantem

Non miror, mea Stella, tuo tua lumina fletu
SufFusa, et mixtas ignibus ignis aquas.

Ex oculis ducendus erat fons. Altera nulla est
Digna satis faciem quae lavet unda tuam.

460

Appendices

XI

In eandem acra Febre Dormientem

Hie jaceo: mixta mortis et vitae Venus;
Amare Parcam docuit vel somnus meus.
Ludit corallis morbus, et multa in nive
Combusta mors est, dum meas genas petit
Mirata praedam, transit in vitam tepens :
Et quam necasset, stravit in lectern sibi
Dormitque capta. Quos superfusos vides
Florum popellos : lilia et deam rosam
Amator sparsit : exprimi nullis suam
Ut par, figuris ille sic deam docet. .

Vix est creatus in rosis tropus mihi.

XII

»

Ejusdem Epitaphium

«

Adesto multa superum nepenthe madens
Ver: annus infans, primula et florens Hebe.
Tuusque tecum Zephyrus accedat, tui
Serenus oris halitus, promus rosae :

Florum solennis fascinus, carmen potens
Ipsis sepulchris mortuum germen vocans.
Adstes et Euri mitius volans ala,

Auraque degens divite, et thure in sacro
Fumata, pennis incubet tuis Eos.

Est urna parva Stellulam meam tenens,

Quae vos in arctum postulat typum deae.

Florum hue adesto, quicquid hie mundus parit,
Sui character sparsus, ac inops icon.

Cognata venis viola, sanguini est rosa.

Natura ubique pingit in luctus meos, ,

Et tophus omnis parturit Stellae notas.

Sit epitaphium par hyacinthus tibi,

Qui flore pandens, quas tegit tellus genas,
Aiacis instar at meum semper ferat,

T uaeque cladis annue monens epos.

Visurus ora qualia, et quales manus,

461

The W irks of Thomas Vaughan

Amplectar albas, purpura et tinctas rosas ;
Tibique flores servient, spinae mihi !

Si liliis adsto, dicam, hie vivit meae,

Et si sepulchris, hie perit Stellae color.

XIII

Gustavus Adolphus Rex Sueci,e Intrat

Germaniam

Siste aquilas Caesar : quae solem, ignesque potentes
Sustinet, his oculis caeca revertet avis.

Explorare mori est : haud tanto in lumine tentes
Degenerem et nullo nomine pullitiem.

Fulminibus servire aquilae est ; non regia flammis
Imperat ; est superis penna ministra focis.

Gustavus fulgetra regit Mavortis, et ille est

Invenient vel quern flammae, aquilaeque Jovem.

XIV

Tillium Congrediens Augurium Rident

Adstitit, in bellum Sueco veniente, volantftm
Turba, et Lipsiacum fusa tegebat agrum.

Cum miles sub utroque ruens ductore catervam
Dissipat et turmis territa surgit avis.

Primo te, Tilli, comitesque supervolat, et mox
Gustavum : at rapta ex hoste salute, petit.

Non erat augurium hoc : aliud victoria pennis
Et dignum vel te gessit, Adolphe, suis.

XV

Moriens Wallenstenium Fundit

Adsis et extrema major, Gustave, ruina,
Quam per tot vitae sparsa trophaea tuae,

Hie congesta jacent tanti miracula belli,

462

Appendices

Contrahit inque unum se tua fama diem.
Cedite, Romani ! vobis vicisse, triumphus ;
Gustavo plus est quam superare, mori.

XVI

Testatur se Germanorum Libertatem
Sanguine suo sigillare

Scripserat hanc, hostisque prius sua dextra cruore ;

Jam signata suo sanguine charta valet.

Libertas quam lata tibi, Germania magna, est!
Cujus vel mundo tessera major erat.

XVII

Carolus Primus, Anglorum Rex

En, en deorum magnes, et tracti numinis
Sub sole thronus ; ignium coeli silex
Ferroque tritus in suas flammas abiens!

Depressa palma, quae veram palmam tulit,
Crevitque in ipsos oneri non cedens deos.

Christi, suoque sanguine hie unctus fuit,

Crucisque nemo majus exemplum dedit.

Rex ille regni, rex idem vixit sui,

Legemque, quam nec subditi ferrent, tulit.

Jus semper illi summa et regalis comes.

Fidesque sancta dirigens dextram suam,

Quam sic coercet, prasidem agnovit manum.

Furor, rapina, caedes et dolus malus
Unius omnes regium invadunt caput.

Caditque — nosti coelum! — tarn sanctus parens —
Ab his peremptus, vel quibus vitam daret.

Secunda ab ipso victima haec Christo fuit.
Disce, Lector: Non semper bona invenit
bonum quaerit.

463

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

XVIII

Amicissimo Suo, et in Omni Philosophia

OCULATISSIMO

T. P.1

in Elementa Sua Optica

Cum nimis amotos cum syrmate coelos,

Hortosque pensiles colo ;

Stat gemata astris nox nigra : ut maura lapillis
Induta divitis sali.

Ipse coloratae volvo miracula scaenae,

Memdique labiles Pharos.

Sic Fati rimamur opes, cursumque procacem,

Qui nostros atterit dies.

Demens ambitio ! curtique superbia sensus !

Fraenare sy derum choros !

Dirige me, qui tanta potes : coelestia nolunt
Terreno dirigi duce.

Felix, qui propriis errorem absterget ocellis,

Et coelos instruit suos.

Astra habeo cognata mihi, lucemque vagantem,

Quam docta corrigat manus.

Quippe facem crasso Natura in corpore clausit,

Suaeque consulit domi.

Sol et luna oculi mihi sunt : solique renides
Poelle, phosphorus novus.

Claude tuas Aurora fores : mihi praevius alter,

Nec radiis, Lucifer tuis.

Hie notis oculis, claroque propinquior igne,

Amata nascitur Venus.

XIX

Epitaphium Gulielmi Laud Episcopi Cantuariensis

O fida tellus ! coeli depositum cape,

Neque ilium topho premas, sed amplectere.

Hie jacet, Lector — serva tu lachrymas malis —

1 I.e Thomas Powell, on whose intimate relations with Henry and
Thomas Vaughan Mr A. B. Grosart has thrown an interesting light in
his collected edition of the verse-work of both poets.

464

Appendices

Ecclesiae pharus, idemque naufragium sibi ;
Repumicator orbis et cceli pugil :

Frigentis arse titio, haud ignis novus,

Sed angelorum flamma Manoae capax.
Desiste, saecldm, majus non potes nefas.
Lassata crux est, martyrum appendix fuit.
Quotidiana non est talis manus.
Liberius nemo sanguinem patriae daret
Si res vocassent ; nec confidentius dedit
Cum non vocabant, nempe curavit mori,
Anteitque istam, quam stabiliret fidem.

Sic ille ccelum rapuit, et vitae tomos
Obliteratos maculis adversae mantis
Proprio rescripsit sanguine, innocuus simul
Et condemnatus j sic citat testes Deus !

O festus ille cinis ! et fcelix miser,

Qui probro honores mutat, et mundi satur
Injuriis emit coelos, ac Stellas tenet !

Fecisti probe ! fidei senex malum
Mors est : ereptus vitae pugillus tibi
Cum diis acquirit annos, omisit diem.

Palles sceleste ? non habet sanum sibi
Cruorem, quisquis sic alienum si tit;.

Sed non in terram fluxit, ne bibit lutum
Fluentem : sitiens sanguinem pulvis suum
Pulvere formatus homo est.

Non periit ergo. Laudis tarn justae threnos
Nec morituras naenias hostes sui
Qui habent aures, audient.

Abi jam, Lector, et bene discas mori.

XX

Mauritius Pontisfracti Castrum Ingreditur

Arx alta ! et Caroli spes una atque ultima nostri,
Qua tria conveniunt hospita regna simul
His extrema fides ponet vestigia muris,

Clarior eque tuis moenibus astra petet.

46 5

30

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Non superesse licet : cupio fundamina mortis
Ponere, et hoc nostram condere teste necem.

Praeside Mauritio tua moenia digna tueri,

Nec nisi Mauritio praeside digna capi.

XXI

Proposita ab Hoste Pactione, Solus Excluditur

Hanc mea mors, mea vita diem celebrate : paresque
Et similes habeant utraque fata vices.

Vita, meam mortem celebra : tu, mors mea, vitam.

Sitque ; audere mori, pactio Mauritii.

Vivere me trepidant hostes : faciamus et ipsos
Quam petiere, meam vel trepidam necem.

XXII

Dedito Castro, et Pactione Exclusus per
Medios Hostes Erumpit

Sol, orbis spectator ades, curruque represso
Mirandum e superis aspice Mauritium !

Solus in hostiles audet procedere turmas,

Hac illi oblata est conditione salus.

Mille refert, et mille ruit varia arte per hostes :

Et varios quasi se dividit usque locos.

Stravit totam aciem dux atque exercitus ipse :

Ilia dies, quod vix postera credat habet.

Victricem obtinuit, morte indignante, salutem :
Credibile est tantum fata timere manum.

XXIII

Aliud

Arcta est, quam tribuis fortuna redemptio ; vel mors,
Vel requiem hostilis pervia turma dabit.

Aut manus haec nobis tutela, aut mulla \ cadamque
Hoste semel major : me, Caraloque minor.

466

Appendices

Par illi exemplum est ; regem assimulare docemur,
Fataque inauditis exuperare modis.

Insilio ! levis est vobis, nullusque triumphus ;

Non poteram vinci, nec dabo posse mori.

XXIV

Aeiud

Venit summa dies, et qua pepigisse, perire est.

Major sum, quam cui sic superesse licet.

Percutimus pulchrum posito cum funere foedus,

Sitque haec pro vita pactio, velle mori.

Plebeius vigor hoc, quivisque gregarius haud dat :

Hoc solius habent pectora Mauritii.

Desiderantur Alcippus et Jacintha (Poema heroicum absolu-
tissimum), cum multis aliis Oxonii ab Authore relictis. — Note
by Henry Vaughan.

%

467

Ill

THOMAS VAUGHAN AND HENRY MORE

In Anthroposophia Theomagica Vaughan is said to have
spoken disparagingly of More’s Psychodia Platonica. No
reference is offered to clear up the point at issue, and I must
confess that I do not know where the supposed allusion is found.
In any case, neither the Cambridge Platonist nor his book is
cited by name. The fact— if it be such — may account for the
debate which followed. Independently of this I can believe that
a ripe scholar and thinker like Henry More might have been moved
to a humoursome bitterness by the attitude of Vaughan when he
claims in Anthroposophia T heomagica to have searched more
deeply into “the centre of Nature” than some other writers on
“ spiritual mysteries.” After all, the text depends from authorities
who were, as they now are, perfectly well known and widely.
His temper would have been tried also by the occasional manu¬
facture of fantastic concealments, causing an atmosphere of
artificial mystery, for Vaughan will quote from one of his sources
up to a certain point and then suggest that it would be going too
far if he merely extended quotation. But whatever the actuating
cause, there followed speedily on Vaughan’s first tracts — included
within the covers of a single small volume — a criticism entitled :
“Observations upon Anthroposophia Theomagica and
Anima Magica Abscondita. By Alazonomastix Philalethes
. . . Printed at Parrhesia, but are to be sold by O. Pullen at the
Rose in St Paul’s Churchyard. 1650.” A quotation on the title-
page shewed the spirit of the tract : “ They reel to and fro, and
stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.” — Ps. I
have no brief in my hands and wish to do even justice. It was a
coarse period in polemics, foreign to all the courtesies and even
the decency of criticism. The Observations are largely of the
nature of lampoon, and abuse does duty for argument. But when

468

Appendices

/ *

allowance has been made for the time, it remains to add that —
worse still — in so far as critical points are debated, Henry More
is not more wanting in good taste than he is in dialectical skill.
He is dull, feeble and ineffective. The truth is that he knew
nothing of official occultism and was not qualified to take his
author seriously in hand, except perhaps from an Aristotelian
standpoint ; and even then he was a Platonist. As regards
Aristotle and his description of Nature, Eugenius Philalethes is
challenged on two occasions to state whether he has discovered
cc the naked substance or essence of anything.” This it is, how¬
ever, or the failure to do this, which constitutes the charge in
chief of Eugenius against the Peripatetics. It is maintained
further by More that these philosophers do not, as Eugenius
states, regard God as having made the world like a carpenter
“ because they give an inward motion to all natural bodies.”
For the rest : (i) He ridicules his author’s notions as to the pre¬
existence of souls and concerning the parts of the soul as derived
from Kabalism ; but (2) he says nothing that is worth reading
on his own part. (3) He is very hard — though lame — on
Vaughan’s rather unconvincing comparison of the world to an
animal, on his cosmic darkness, on his views concerning the
elements, and on his suggestion that there could be an evening
and a morning in the world at a period when it is affirmed by
Vaughan that “the light was equally dispensed.” (4) He seeks
to know the nature of that light which alone — according to
Vaughan — can be multiplied truly ; and this seems pertinent, as
in Anima Magica Abscondita the Peripatetics are thanked in
scorn for their offering nothing when they explain the operation
of things but do not say what they are. (5) When the soul is
likened to light or air, More discovers materialism, and there is
some ground for the criticism ; but the use of these terms was
doubtless by way of analogy. (6) The metrical eulogy of
Agrippa leads to ridiculous questions — whether Eugenius can
explain the flux and reflux of the sea, the operations of the
lodestone, and so forth. (7) As an example of More in a mood
of comedy, he discerns “ a nun ” in that First Principle which
is called “a pure virgin.” (8) In the worst taste of all is an
unkindly reference to the death of a brother mentioned in
Anthroposophia Theomagica ; but I need not write it here.
(9) Finally, the Advertisement at the end of this tract, enumerat-

469

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

ing the qualifications of anyone who proceeds to criticise, has
the benefit of prolonged censure and perhaps deserves it.

Vaughan replied promptly in The Man-Mouse, published
in the same volume as Magia Adamica, and of course presses
Scripture into his service. <c After the manner of men I have
fought with beasts ” is making a good beginning on the title-
page — much better than More himself. And the tract quotes
in its opening j c< Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words
without knowledge?” Vaughan, moreover, had the whole
freedom of Alsatia in respect of foul language, a qualification
which' appears to all the lees and depths in his later rejoinder.
More did what lay within his measures, but he seems to have
lived on the outskirts and to have been learning the language
slowly. Second in this, he is second also in skill, and Vaughan
scores points against him, though he tends to arrest in doing so
the sense of some of his own statements which have been
attacked by his critic. I must not be held to suggest that there
is anything of real moment on either side of all the ribald con¬
tentions ; but Vaughan is .the more supple antagonist in an
exceedingly sorry bout, (i) He reminds More — as regards pre¬
existence — that, according to Plato, “the knowledge which souls
attain to in the body is but a remembrance of what they formerly
knew, before they were embodied.” (2) He defends his twofold
division of the soul according to Kabalism — namely, Ruah and
Nephesh , insisting that they are male and female ; but Vaughan
and More seem alike to have forgotten that the theosophy of
Israel is by no means content with postulating these, elements :
they are extended in all to six. (3) He accuses his adversary
of mistaking “ analogies for positions,” and this obtains against
him, but he does not do much on his own part to redeem his
awkward comparison between the world and an animal. (4) As
regards the “ diffused light ” and the question of an evening and
morning during this condition of things, he says that the nights
and days of the creative week cc were terrible mysterious radia¬
tions of God upon the chaos and dark evaporations of the chaos
towards God ” — which may be left to stand at its value. (5) As
to the number of elements the debate evaporates in mouthings,
to the credit of neither side. (6) There is perhaps no need to
say that Vaughan passes over the question whether he has dis¬
covered the real nature of essences, of that light which is

470

Appendices.

multiplied, nor does he offer to explain the tides and the attrac¬
tive power of lodestone. On this and on other considerations
the debate issues in words, which are those of declamation and
abuse.

Henry More re-entered the lists with “ T he Second Lash
of Alazonomastix. Containing a Solid and Serious Reply
to a very Uncivil Answer to certain Observations upon
•Anthroposophia Theomagica and Anima Magica Abscon-
dita. Printed by the Printers to the University of Cambridge.”
It was issued without date, but can be assigned certainly to an
early part of 1651. It bore the following quotations on the
title: Proverb*. “ He that reproves a scorner gets to himself
a blot.” Ecclesiastic : “ Be not proud in the device of thine
own mind, lest thy soul rend thee as a bull.” The tract may
be summarised thus.

The Cambridge Platonist (1) Complains of Eugenius Phila-
lethes for his “ unchristian bitterness and inhuman railings,”
justifying his own scurrility and denying any “base” abuse;
(2) Affirms that he is still “benignly affected” towards .E. P.,
and signs himself a “careful and vigilant brother”; (3) Calls
him “a bad chip of the Dr Fludd block,” who cannot “dis¬
tinguish abstracts from concretes ” ; (4) Has discovered his

identity and terms him derisively “Tom Vaughan of Jesus
College, Oxford ” ; (5) Describes Anthr.oposophia as a “con¬
ceited interpretation of Holy Writ,” and claims for himself that
he “ keeps to the naked truth of Christianity ” ; (6) Affirms
that he was moved to intervene by the “rash and unworthy
abuse of Descartes,” who is mentioned once only — and then
quite casually — by E. P. ; (7) Expends pages hereon, and terms
himself Incola cceli in terra ; (8) Maintains that reminiscence
does not prove pre-existence, and condemns E. P.’s “gross
opinion ” of the soul ; (9) Argues that substance cannot be
known otherwise than by its operations or relations to this and
that, which is obviously true but makes void several of his owrf
previous challenges — as, e.g ., regarding the “essence of any¬
thing”; (10) Recurs to that “rare piece of zoography ” which
draws out the world in the shape of an animal, declaring that
E. P. would match chalk and cheese together or marry an
apple and an oyster ; (11) Proposes to prove in the same fashion
that a pair of bellows is an animal; (12) Rails at the

47 1

The JVorks of Thomas Vaughan

Rosicrucian Brotherhood, who were addressed by E. P. “when
they were God knows where,” while they will answer him
“ God knows when”; (13) Explains the Lamp of God as the
light of reason ; (14) Confesses that he has not read Magia
Adamica, which appeared in the same volume as The
Man-Mouse.

Vaughan was not slow to come forward, and had a mind in
The Second Wash to “answer a fool according to his folly,”
but at the same time to “ justify the truth ” rather than himself,
as one who is conscious beforehand that so far he has been “ more
just than bitter.” Whether his rectitude emerges between the
ashpits of his language I must leave to those who feel qualified
for pronouncing judgment. For the rest : (1) More cannot dis¬
tinguish between “ the operations and the essence of the soul.”
(2) As regards pre-existence, “ before the immersion in matter,”
the soul was a “ knowing, intelligent spirit,” no evidence being
offered in favour of the postulated antecedence. (3) The argu¬
ment is that intelligence is essential to the soul, and hence it must
needs be intelligent before and after incorporation ; but this is
not the question at issue until pre-existence itself is determined.
(4) Respecting the “First Matter of all things,” Vaughan has
“ seen it and felt it ten thousand times”; it is “that sperm
which God in the beginning of His ways created of nothing,
and out of which He made heaven and earth ” ; it is not there¬
fore — as More proposes — “ a thing prepared by Art ” so that it
is “fit to receive any form whatever.” (5) Vaughan can dis¬
tinguish well enough between abstract and concrete, but the
pretence of More’s accusation brings forward something which
is “a Bull both in abstracto and in concreto , and this is the Bull of
Basan.” (6) It is More alone who gives “ a brutish account of
the soul of man,” for he says that the soul which is sensitive must
needs be rational also “ and animadversive,” the answer to which
is that a man’s hands have sense “ and yet they have no anim¬
adversion.” (7) Those who would know the nature of substance
must search the centre of Nature, the capacity for which is
beyond the desert of More, nor does Vaughan claim the privilege.
(8) It is not true, however, that all substances can be known only
by their operations, because there are passive substances and these
have no operations ; so therefore how are they known ? (9) The

sense of the soul is not the vestment of the soul, which herself

472

Appendices

is the vehicle of mind, or u the superior intellectual portion.”
(9) The soul, according to More, is a cc spiritual substance without
corporeal dimensions, but hath an immaterial amplitude, dilatable
and contractible ” : it is therefore cc long without length, and
though it hath no length it may be shortened.” (10) Finally,
More is recommended to keep within his sphere and not to censure
those things which he does not understand.

The Cambridge Platonist found repose in silence, but Vaughan
continued to cherish a bitter remembrance which passed into
sporadic expression in his later works. The tracts produced by
the squabble are ineffably repellent, and where they touch upon
such questions as the presence of water in the moon and whether
the stars shine by light reflected from the sun it becomes diffi¬
cult to think that either writer had any notions of the universe
over which it would be worth while to waste the thought of
a moment.

473

IV

ENGLISH METRICAL REMAINS

#

I

The Dedication of “The Chymist’s Key”

The greedy cheat with impure hands may not

Attempt this Art, nor is it ever got

By the unlearn’d and rude : the vicious mind,

To lust and softness given, it strikes stark blind.

But the sage, pious mind, who still adores
And loves his Maker, and His love implores ;

Who ever joys to search the secret cause
And series of His works, their love and laws :

Let him draw near and joining will with strength
Study this Art in all her depth and length ;

Then grave experience shall his consort be,

Skill’d in large Nature’s inmost mystery.

The knots and doubts his busy course and cares
Will oft disturb, till time the truth declares,

But noble patience — through all trials past —
Brings the glad end and long hoped for at last.

II

On the Death of Mr William Cartwright1

So are we now beyond the spleen of fate,
Our miseries have made us fortunate :

1 Prefixed to Cartwright’s Comedies, 1651.
* University.

474 *

He was proctor of Oxford

Appendices

The grave was physic here ; death speaks us free —
Her malice now is spent as well as we.

Nay, now our ruin doth so much displease
That to strike more is to her a disease.

None can deserve her envy ; her contempt
Exceeds her former anger : she hath spent
No arrows but on precious lives, and we
Are but the leavings of her tyranny —

Such — whom when she hath taken from the prease —
Cannot requite the expense of a disease.

He fell, a nobler ruin ; we that live
Owe our short lives but to a base reprieve.

He, when as yet in death he was not lost,

Made fate suspect her jurisdiction cross’d,

’Cause learning knew no destiny : ’twas he
Whose studies border’d on eternity.

Our speculations were too poor to have
With thee the equal glory of a grave,

And share a fair mortality that we

Might be thought wise because we fell with thee.

Death had thee hence, lest thy large fancy might

In time take wing, and with a saving flight

Rove thee beyond the world into a state

Too high, and so outrun the reach of fate.

Thou wert so richly good, so great that we
The Church in thee ev’n at one view might see ;
Saints that so long possessed the quiet earth
And slept out centuries were at thy birth
Regenerate : they lived again in thee,

And did outdo their former piety.

And as their souls contracted in thine own
Did thus forestall the resurrection,

So in thy death they met a second fate :

Nature in thee did recapitulate.

So fraught wert thou with learning that we can
Style thee almost a breathing Vatican,

A library not framed of stones and wood
But animate and cemented with blood.

All arts so suffer’d in thy fall that we
May call thy grave an university

475

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

And look our schools out there, as if that now
Eternal Bodley did descend below
To gratify thy dust. O that we might
Instal thee lecturer again and right
That injured metaphysics, like to be
Eclipsed of their own obscurity,

Robb’d of thy light : and yet they are content
To mourn the ruin of their armament.

When he did read how did we flock to hear :

Sure some professors became pupils there.

He would refine abstractions : it was he
That gave the text all its authority,

As if the Stagyrite resigned his pen

And took his censure, not his comment then.

And though with some the science goes for pelf,

His lectures made it to transcend itself.

He used the creatures as a scale to storm
The spiritual world, and though ’twas torn
And broken with uncertainties, yet he —

By reason, as by faith — a Deity
Could apprehend and reach. Thus having traced
These secondary things, his soul made haste
To view the Cause and then began to plod,
Nothing being left to puzzle him but God,

Whose mysteries he reach’d, as far as he
Of his great self had made discovery.

He plunder’d not the heavens, nor brought he down
Secrets from thence which were before unknown ;
Yet some there are believe their wits so ripe
That they can draw a map of the Arch’type,

And with strange optics tutor’d they can view
The emanations of the mystic Jew.

In this his pious ignofance was best
And did excel his knowledge of the rest.

But he is gone and Providence took him
To add to heaven another cherubim.

This to our tears may minister relief :

*Tis this preferment that does cause our grief.

476

Appendices

Hi

Upon the Following Poems

I write not here as if thy last in store
Of learned friends ; ’tis known that thou hast more
Who — were they told of this — would find a way
To raise a guard of poets without pay,

And bring as many hands to thy edition
As th’ City should unto their May’r’s petition.

But thou wouldst none of this, lest it should be
Thy muster rather than our courtesy.

Thou wouldst not beg as knights do and appear
Poet by voice and suffrage of the shire :

That were enough to make my Muse advance
Amongst the crutches ; nay, it might enhance
Our charity, and we should think it fit
The State should build an hospital for wit.

But here needs no relief : thy richer verse
Creates all poets that can but rehearse,

And they — like tenants better’d by their land —
Should pay thee rent for what they understand.
Thou art not of that lamentable nation
Who make a blessed alms of approbation,

Whose fardel-notes are briefs in everything
But that they are not licensed by the king.
Without such scape-requests thou dost come forth
Arm’d — though I speak it— with thy proper worth
And needest not this noise of friends, for we
Write out of love, not thy necessity.

And though this sullen age possessed be
With some strange desamour to poetry,

Yet I suspect — thy fancy so delights —

The Puritans will turn thy proselytes,

And that thy flame — when once abroad it shines —
Will bring thee as many friends as thou hast lines.

1 Prefixed to Henry Vaughan’s Olor ISCANUS, 1651.

477

/

V

IN SUMMUM VI RUM THOMAM BODLEIUM,
EQUITEM AURATUM, BIBLIOTHECAE OXONI-
ENSIS STRUCTOREM MAGNIFICUM1

Sancta Anima, et tarn sancta simul salveto favilla,

Sitque semel cineris fas meminuisse tui.

Instructor coeli et stellarum plenior ordo,

Qui sporadas per te non finis astra fore.

Quippe Lares libris vel rite vagantibus addis
Et coelum, quo sint sydera fixa, cluis.

Nos vitam ut patres largimur faetibus, at tu
Quo vitam hanc posssint vivere solus habes.

Hospitium agnoscunt Artes j hie quaelibet intrat
Post obstetrices, nec peregrina, manus.

Scaena togae, doctique capax panegyris orbis
Et mare, vel potius plenior unda mari.

Concursus Geniorum et meta extrema Lycaei,

Quo nullum nisi sit sanctius, iret opus.

Syllabus Heroum, mentisque omniscia proles,

Est haec et sensu theca animata suo.

Bodleii laus ampla, et fusior urna sepulti,

Qua vitam invenit mors sua, morsque necem.

Hinc se fracta fugae dedit, absumptisque sagittis
Implevit vacuas sola pharetra manus.

Pax tibi vox nulla est : satagis dum condere Musam
Fecisti, quod non noverit ilia loqui.

Pium est agnoscere per
Quos profecisti.

1 Prefixed to Lumen de Lumine.

478

VI

COMMENDATORY VERSES

PREFIXED OR APPENDED TO THE WRITINGS OF

THOMAS VAUGHAN

I

To His Ever Honoured Friend, the
Learned Author

(Appended to Anima Magica Abscondita)

Sir :

Your book now finish’d, let a shallower pen
Add these few drops to your vast ocean —

Not by my shadowing praise t’ eclipse the glory
Of your high worth. This book must tell that story
To truth-believing souls, whose eagle eyes
Can penetrate these hidden mysteries.

But you — thrice-honour’d Sir — my grovelling mind
Have raised to higher pitch, to tell how kind,

How rare a friend ; how dear, how choice a treasure
My fates have bless’d me with, above the measure
Of vulgar thought : how this diviner ray
Of your bright soul would fill with clearest day
The darken’d world, did not earth-shadowing mist —
With thickest clouds — heaven’s influence resist.

But who from envy’s sordid mire
Is wash’d, is clad in pure attire
Of innocence, a light shall see —

Unthrall’d from error’s sophistry —

Will kindle that magnetic fire
Which shall concentre wild desire,

479

The IV irks of Thotnds V wghan

And fix the roving thoughts in one
Inveterate tri-union.

He’ll then disdain the slimy earth,

A house too mean for noble birth :

His heaven-raised soul will then aspire
To bear a part in th* angel’s choir.

Dear Sir, fare well. Let seekers’ thirsty flames,
Refresh’d by these your soul-reviving streams,

Echo your praise, with thankful eulogies
Your ever-living name immortalise.

Sir,

Your own beyond expresses,

H. B.

II

the Author’s Vindication and Reply to the
Scurvy, Scribbling Scolding, Alazonomastix

(Prefixed to Magia Adamica)

’Twas well he did assault thee, or thy foe
Could not have hit to thy advantage so.

What he styles ignorance is depth in sense :

He thinks there is no skill but common sense.

Had Bacon lived in this unknowing age
And seen experience laugh’d at on the stage,

What Tempests would have risen in his blood
To side an art which Nature hath made good.

Great, rare Eugenius, do not thou delay
Thy course because this dirt lies in thy way.

Stain thy white skin for once, and be thou not
Surprised like ermines by the daubing plot.

Mount to thy full meridian ; let thy star
Create a rubric to thy calendar ;

And we will offer anthems to thy shrine
So long as date can give a name to time.

P. B., A.M. Oxoniens.

480

Appendices

-I have omitted the abusive couplets referring especially
to Henry More, and shall take the same course in the excerpts
which follow. They are disgraceful, like the controversy itself,
and destitute of the least interest at this day.

Ill

Ibid

(Prefixed to The Second Wash)

But thou, admired Eugenius, whose great arts
Shine above envy and the common arts ;

Thou kin to angels and superior lights,

A spark of the first fire ; whose eagle flights
Trade not with earth and grossness, but do pass
To the pure heavens and make thy God thy glass,

In Whom thou seest all forms and so dost give
These rare discoveries, how things move and live :
Proceed to make thy great design complete
And let not this loathed Moore our hopes defeat.

Shake off the eclipse, this dark, intruding veil
Which would force night upon us and entail
The same gross ignorance — in whose shades he
Hath lost himself — on our posterity.

Down, all you stale impostures, castles rear’d
In th’ air and guarded by thy reverend beard,

Brat of Nichomachus. I will no more
Bow to thy hoary handful nor adore
Thy tyrant text ; but by this dawning light,

Which streams upon me through thy three-piled night,
Pass to the East of truth, till I may see
Man’s first fair state, when sage simplicity,

The dove and serpent, innocent and wise,

Dwelt in his breast and he in Paradise.

There from the Tree of Knowledge his best boughs
I’ll pluck a garland for Eugenius’ brows,

Which to succeeding times fame shall bequeathe,

With this most just applause — Great Vaughan’s wreath.

H.M. Oxon.

481 31

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

IV

Ibid

(Prefixed to The Second Wash)

Hail, great Eugenius, look what force you had
To wind and turn your adversary mad.

Faith, I’ll petition for him : will you be
But merciful and cure his lethargy ?

• •••••

The world doth see
Eugenius’ learning and thy foolery.

The weights you put upon him do at best
Speak him but palm ; he cannot be oppress’d,

For against virtue there is no success :

You make him more when you would make him less.

P. B., A.M. Oxoniensis.

482

VII

THE LATIN LETTER OF THE FRATRES

ROSEiE CRUCIS

Translated in Lumen de Lumine

Unusquisque nature desyderat esse Dux, habere aureos et
argenteos thesauros, et magnus videri coram mundo, Deus
autem haec omnia creavit, ut homo iis utatur, eorumque sit
dominus, et agnoscat in illis singularem Ejus bonitatem et omni-
potentiam, Ipsi gratias agat, Eum honoret et laudet. Nemo
autem vult haec omnia nisi otiosis diebus, et nullo labore et
periculo praeeunte conquirere, neque ex loco eo consequi, in quo
Deus ilia posuerit ; etiamque vult ut quaerantur, et quaerentibus
dabit. Nemo vero vult sedem sibi in illo loco quaerere, et
propterea etiam non inveniuntur. Siquidem a longo tempore
via et locus ad haec incognitus est, et maximae parti absconditus.
Etiamsi vero locum et viam difficile et laboriosum sit invenire,
locus tamen est investigandus. Cum vero Deum coram suis nihil
absconditum velit, ideo in hoc ultimo saeculo antequam Judicium
extremum veniat, dignis haec omnia sunt revelanda : uti (obscur£
tamen satis ne manifesta fiant indignis) in quodam loco inquit :
Nihil est absconditum quod non reveletur.1 Nos igitur k Spiritu
Dei acti, hanc Dei voluntatem mundo annunciamus, uti etiam
in diversis linguis & nobis factum et publicatum est. Istam vero
publicationem aut major pars calumniatur, aut contemnitur, aut
sine Deo promissa ejus penes nos quaerit, existimans nos illos
statim docturos, quo modo Aurum Chimicum sit praeparandum,
aut illis afferre magnos thesauros, quibus possint coram mundo
pompos£ vivere, superbire, bella gerere, lucra exercere, helluari,
potare, incontinenter vivere, et in aliis peccatis vitam commacu-
lare ; qua? tamen omnia contraria sunt voluntati Ipsius Dei. Hi

1 St Matt., x, 26.

483

The Works of Thomas Vaughan .

exempla capere debebant k decern virginibus illis (quarum quinque
stolidae k prudentibus oleum petebant) esse multum aliam rationem,
dum nimirum opus sit, ut quilibet proprio labore et studio in Deo
id consequatur. Nos tamen illorum sociorum animos ex singulari
teci gratia et revelatione, etiam ex ipsorum scriptis agnoscimus,
aures nostras obturamus, et quasi nutibus nos obducimus, ne
ipsorum boatus et ejulatus audiamus, qui in vanum aurum
clamant. Atque hinc fit etiam quod multum calumniarum et
convitiorum contra nos effundunt, quae non curamus, sed Deus
suo tempore judicabit.

Postquam vero nos vestrum duorum diligentiam et sedulitatem,
quam in veri cognitione Dei et lectione sacrorum bibliorum
impenditis, jampridem (quamvis vobis inscientibus) bene scivimus,
etiam ex vestro agnovimus scripto, Nos etiam vos prae multis aliis
millibus responso aliquo dignari voluimus, et vobis hoc significare
ex permissu Dei et Spiritus Sancti admonitione.

Est Mons situs in medio terrae, vel centro orbis, qui est parvus
et magnus, est mollis, etiam supra modum durus et saxosus, est
unicuique propinquus et longinquus, sed ex consilio Dei invisibilis.
In eo sunt maximi thesauri absconditi, quos mundus numerare
non potest. Qui Mons, ex invidid diaboli (qui omni tempore
Dei gloriam et faelicitatem hominis impedit) multum trueibus
animalibus et aliis avibus rapacibus circumdatus est, quae viam
homini reddunt difficilem et periculosam, et propterea hue usque
etiam (quia tempus nondum est) ea via nec dum ab omnibus
quaeri potuit, aut inveniri. Nunc vero k dignis (interim proprio
cujusque labore) via invenienda est. Ad hunc Montem ite nocte
quadam (cum ea sit) longissima et obscurissima, et praeparate
vosmetipsos per fideles precationes. Insistite in viam ubi Mons
sit inveniendus. Ouaerite autem ex nemine ubi via sit invenienda,
sed sequimini fideliter vestrum Ductorem, qui se vobis sistet et
in itinere vos ofFendet : vos vero ilium non agnoscetis. Hie
media nocte, cum omnia -tranquilla et obscura sunt, vos ad
Montem adducet, sed necesse est ut vos praemuniatis animo
magno et heroico, ne reformidetis ea, quae vobis occurrent et
recedatis. Nullo gladio corporali indigetis, nec aliis armis, sed
Deum solummodo invocate syncere, et ex animo. Postquam
vidistis Montem, primum miraculum quod procedet hoc est.
Vehementissimus et maximus ventus, qui Montem commovebit
et rupes discutiet. Tunc vobis se ofFerent leones et dracones,

484

m

Appendices

et alia terribilia animalia, sed nihil haec reformidate. Estote
stabiles, et cavate ne recedatis ; nam vester Conductor, qui vos
conduxit, non permittet ut aliquid nftali vobis fiat. Verum
thesaurum nondum est detectus, sed valde propinquus. Hunc
ventum sequitur terrae motus, qui absolvet ea quae ventus reliquit,
et aequabit ea. Cavete tamen ne recedatis. Post terrae motum
sequetur ignis maximus, qui omnem terrestrem materiam consumet,
et thesaurum deteget : vos vero eum videre nequitis. Verum
post haec omnia, et ferme circa tempus matutinum erit tran-
quillitas magna et arnica, et videbitis Stellam Matutinam ascendere
et Auroram assugere ; et magnum thesaurum animadvertetis.
Penes quern praecipuum et exactissimum est summa quaedam
tinctura, qual mundus (si Deo placeret et tantis donis dignus
esset) possit tingi et in summum aurum converti.

Hac tinctura utentes uti vos docuerit vester Conductor, vos
quamvis senes, reddet juvenes, et in nullo membro animadvertetis
ullum morbum. Penes hanc tincturam invenietis etiam margaritas,
quas ne quidem licet excogitare. Vos vero nihil capietis pro
autoritate vestra, sed sitis contend cum eo quod vobis Conductor
communicabit. Deo semper gratias agite pro hoc, et summam
curam intendite, ne coram mundo superbiatis, sed dono hoc recte
utimini, et in ea impendite quae mundo sunt contraria, et ita
possidere quasi 'non haberetis. Ducite viam temperatam, et
cavete ab omni genere peccati, alioqui hie vester Conductor a
vobis se divertet, et privabimini hac faelicitate. Scitote enim
hoc fideliter. Qui tincture hac abutitur et non vivit exemplari-
ter, pure et syncere coram hominibus, beneficium hoc amittet, et
parum spei restabit quo iterum id recipere possit, &c.

VIII

APHORISMI MAGIC1 EUGENIANI 1

(, Veritas Prima est heec : haec etiam ultima )

I

Ante omnia punctum extitit — non to aro/iov aut mathematicum,
sed diffusivum. Monas erat explicite, implicite myrias. Lux
erat, erat et nox, principium et finis principii, omnia et nihil,
est et non.

II

Commovit se Monas in duade, et per triadem egressas sunt
facies luminis secundi.

Ill

Exivit ignis simplex, increatus, et sub aquis induit se tegumento
ignis multiplicis creati.

IV

Respexit ad fontem superiorem et inferiorem, deducto typo,
triplici vulta sigillavit.

V

Creavit unum Unitas, et in tria distinxit Trinitas. Est et
quaternarius, nexus et medium reductionis.

VI

Ex visibilibus primum effulsit aqua, fcemina incubantis ignis
et figurabilium gravida mater.

1 These Aphorisms were adopted apparently by Thomas Vaughan and
are not his own excogitation. I remember meeting with them in an earlier
printed book by another author, whom. I am unable to identify now.

486

Appendices

VII

Porosa erat interius et corticibus varia ; cujus venter habuit
coelos convulutos et astra indiscreta.

VIII

Separator Artifex divisit hanc in amplas regiones, et — apparente
foetu — disparuit mater. *

IX

Peperit tamen mater filios lucidos, influentes in terram Chai.

X

Hi generant matrem in novissimis, cujus fons cantat in luco
miraculoso.

XI

Sapientiae Condus est hie : esto qui potes Promus.

XII

Pater est totius creati, et ex filio creato per vivam filii
analysin Pater generatur. Habes summum generantis circuli
mysterium. Filii filius est, qui filii Pater fuit.

487

IX

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OF

THOMAS VAUGHAN

Reproducing the Title-page of each work as originally printed

I

Anthroposophia Theomagica ; Or a Discourse of the Nature
of Man and his State after Death ; grounded on his
Creator’s Proto-Chemistry and verified by a Practical
Examination of Principles in the Great World. By
Eugenius Philalethes. “ Many shall run to and fro
and knowledge shall be increased.” — Daniel, xii, 4. Audi
Ignis Vocem. — Zoroaster in Orac. London : Printed by
T. W. for H. Blunden at the Castle in Cornhill. 1650.
pp. xvi-{- 70.

II

Anima Magica Abscondita ; Or a Discourse of the Uni¬
versal Spirit of Nature, with his strange, abstruse, miraculous
Ascent and Descent. By Eugenius Philalethes. Est
autem universum speculum unumy ad quod astans amor , suum
efformat idolum . — Stapul. in Dion. DA a Digon : H£b
DhA, Heb Dhim. London : Printed by T. W. for H. B.
1650. pp. xiv + 57.

III

Magia Adamica ; Or the Antiquity of Magic and the Descent
thereof from Adam downward proved : Whereunto is added
a perfect and full Discovery of the True Ccelum Terr.®,
or the Magician’s Heavenly Chaos and First Matter of all
Things. By Eugenius Philalethes. Eyw Se tl /3ov\o-

488

Appendices

' fxcu : KCLTa/uLaOeiv ty]v (pvuiv /ecu ravTr] eVe crOai- — Epict. in
Enchirid . London : Printed by T. W. for H. Blunden at
the Castle in Cornhill. 1650. pp. xxxiv-j- 140.

There is no separate title for Ccelum Terr.®, which
begins with a fresh paragraph at line 4 of p. 78, and the
distinction between the two texts is shewn thereafter by the
headlines.

IV

The Man-Mouse Taken in a Trap, and tortured to death
for Gnawing the Margins of Eugenius Philalethes.
Et mecum confertur Ulysses. . . . <c After the manner of men
I have fought with beasts at Ephesus.”— Cor., xv, 32. “ I

know my reward is calumny.” — Anthrop. Theo.-Mag.,
p. 27. Printed in London and sold at the Castle in Corn-
hill. 1650. pp. i v 1 1 6. «

This tract was issued in the same volume with Magia
Adamica and its dedicatory epistle to Mr Mathew Harbert
followed the dedication of that work to Mr Thomas
Henshaw. The errata of Magia Adamica preceded the

errata of The Man-Mouse, immediately after the title-leaf

' *

of the latter.

V

Lumen de Lumine : Or a New Magical Light, discovered and
communicated to the World. By Eugenius Philalethes.
“ And God said, Let there be light.” — Genesis, i, 3.
w And the light shineth in the darkness.”- — St John, i, 5.
Ne loquaris Deo absque lumine.— Pythag. London. Printed
for H. Blundel at the Castle in Cornhill. 1651. pp. xvi
T-IOI.

VI .

The Second Wash : Or the Moore scoured once more, being
a Charitable Cure for the Distractions of Alazonomastix.
By Eugenius Philalethes. Loripedem rectus derideat
/ ETHIOPEM Albus . London : Printed ,by T. W. and
are (sic) to be sold at the Castle in Cornhill. 1651.
pp. xiv + 88.

This tract was issued with Lumen de Lumine and at
the end appear the errata of both texts.

489

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

VII

Aula Lucis, or The House of Light. A Discourse written in
the year 1651. By S. N., a Modern Speculator. Hie locus
est , quern [si verbis audacia detur ) baud timeam magni dixisse
palatia cceli . London. Printed for William Leake and are
to be sold at his Shop, at the Sign of the Crown in Fleet
Street, between the two Temple Gates. 1652. pp. x-f 50.

The letters S. N. are the finals of Thomas Vaughan, and
there is no question that the work is his. It was included
«by Henry Vaughan in the list of his brother’s writings sent
to Anthony a Wood for inclusion in Athenee Oxonienses.
Moreover, the style and characteristic notions testify un¬
mistakably concerning it.

VIII

The P'ame and Confession of the Fraternity of R. C.,
commonly, of the Rosie Cross. With a Preface annexed
thereto, and a Short Declaration of their Physical Work.
By Eugenius Philalethes. kcu yap icepSos e’lrj, /J.r)T€
7 no-evv, V*]T€ airicreiv tt acriv* — Jarch. apud Philostrat.
Veritas in profundo . London. Printed by J. M. for Giles
Calvert, at the Black Spread Eagle at the West end of
Paul’s. 1652. pp. lxix + 64.

The translation of the Fame and Confession “belongs
to an unknown hand,” as stated in the Address entitled
“The Publisher to the Reader.” Vaughan contributed [a)
the Address in question ; [b) the “ Epistle to the Wise and
Understanding Reader ” ; (y) “A Short Advertisement to
the Reader,” being the colophon to the whole work ; and
[d) the long discourse entitled “The Preface.”

IX

* *

Euphrates, or The Waters of the East; Being a short
Discourse of that Secret Fountain whose Water flows from
Fire and carries in it the beams of the Sun and Moon. By
Eugenius Philalethes. Et dixit Deus , cujus Nomen
sanctificetur : Fecimus ex Aqua omnem rem. — Sadith ex Lib.
Sacro. London. Printed for Humphrey Moseley at the

490

Appendices

Princes Arms in St Paul’s Churchyard. 1655. pp. xiv
+ 124.

X

Thalia Rediviva : the Pass -Times and Recreations of a
Country-Muse in Choice Poems on Several Occasions.
With some Learned Remains of the Eminent Eugenius
Philalethes. Never made publick till now. 1678.

The Motto on the first title is from Vergil : Nec eribuit
sylvas habitare Thalia; on the second from Q. Horatius :
Qui prcegravat artes Infra se posita. The dedication to the
Marquis of Worcester is signed J. W. and the short
“Address to the Reader” is signed I. W. The first be¬
longs to both works, as it mentions <c these twin poets,” but
the preface speaks only of “ the Author.” There is a
separate title to the remains of E. P. as follows : Eugenii
Philalethis Viri Insignissimi et Poetarum sui saculi merito
principis Vertumnus et Cynthia, &fc. 1678. These
Remains of Thomas Vaughan occupy sixteen pages and
contain nothing in English.

ATTRIBUTED WORKS
' I

The Chymist’s Key to Shut and to Open, or the True
Doctrine of Corruption and Generation, in Ten Brief
Aphorisms, illustrated with most faithful Commentaries out
of the pure Light of Nature. Published by Eugenius
* Philalethes. Printed by E. B. for L. Lloyd, at the
Castle in Cornhill. 1657.

I am indebted to the Rev. A. B. Grosart’s edition of the
Works of Henry Vaughan, F uller Worthies Library, 4 vols.,
1868, &C., for the full title. It is first mentioned by Anthony
& Wood in Athene Oxonienses, and is said to be a transla¬
tion made by Thomas Vaughan. As such, it has no title
to be included in an edition of his writings. It is exceed¬
ingly rare, and I have been unable to consult a copy, either
in the British Museum or elsewhere in our public libraries.
The following points should be noted : (1) Mr Grosart gives
the date of publication as 1657, but according to Wood it

49 1 <

The W 'irks of Thomas V aughafi

appeared in 1655, or the same year as Euphrates. (2)
Mr Grosart seems almost indubitably to have reproduced
the title from a copy in his possession or from one which
passed through his hands ; but Wood describes it as The
Chymist’s Key to Open and Shut, thus reversing the
wording. (3) According to Grosart’s title it might be an
original work, unless the contrary is implied in the statement
“published by Eugenius Philalethes.” (4) The Dictionary
of National Bi’ography says that the author was Mollius,
and as I have no doubt that this is correct, I append the
following bibliographical particulars. (5) In addition to other
works, Heinrich Nolle was the author of (a) Systema
Medecince Hermetic ce Generate, 1613; ( b ) Methodus Meta -
physici Systematis . . . Canonibus illustrata , 1613 ; (r)

Nature Sanctuarium . . . in undecim libris tractata ,
una cum dua Appendices , i.e., Pansophise Fundamentum et De
Lapide Philosophorum Quatuor Tractatus , 1615 ; ( d ) Theoria
Philosophise Hermetic se, 1617 ; [e) De Methodo Medendi
Hermetice , 1618; (f) Via Sapientiae Triuna , 1620. (6) A

portion of one of these works was translated under the title
of Hermetical Physick, or the Right Way to Preserve
and Restore Health, 1655, by Henry Vaughan the Silurist.
The two brothers must have been much impressed by
Nollius, as both were concerned with clothing him in an
English vesture.

II

A Brief Natural History, intermixed with a variety of Philo¬
sophical Discourses and Observations upon the Burnings of
Mount Etna. With Refutations of such Vulgar Errors as
our modern Authors have omitted. By Eugenius Phila-
lethes. London : Printed for Samuel Smelt, next door to
the Castle hear Moor-Gate. 1669.

Wood says: “By the language of it, it seems not to be
written by our Eugenius Philalethes but another ; and
besides, when Olor Iscanus” — - i.e ., Henry Vaughan — “sent
me a catalogue of his brother’s works, the title of that book
was not put among them.” I have examined the text care¬
fully and accept Wood’s conclusion. It differs in manner
and style from Vaughan’s writings and is quite tolerant

492

Appendices

respecting Aristotle. There are allusions to many authors
who are not referred to in the known writings of Vaughan,
and above all there is no occultism, explicit or implied.
The original Eugeni us Philalethes was of course dead in
1669, according to his story, and there was nothing to pre¬
vent a new author adopting the pseudonym, as was done
afterwards by Robert Samber and two or three unimportant
writers.

Ill

Haskett and Laing catalogue a work called “The Retort. By
the Author.” London: 1761. They ascribe it to Thomas
Vaughan, giving no reason and no further particulars, I
have failed to find a copy, and in the absence of all evidence,
either in the title or otherwise, the attribution to Vaughan
of a work published more than a century after his death
must be set aside — provisionally at least.

493

INDEX

Abel, 147.

Abimelech, 156.

Abraham, 48, 157.

Abraham the Jew, 172 et seq.
Adam, 49, 50, 87, 115, 139, 142, 145,
148, 150, 155, 159, 226, 321.
Adamic Earth, 27.

Agent, Universal, 193 ; First Agent,
24.

Agrippa, Cornelius, 10, 11, 25, 27,

5o-52, 55, 59, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70,
71, 88, 90, 93, 107, no, hi, 1 17,
132, 135, 137, 152, 214, 225, 352,
377-

Ahisamach, 153.

Aholiab, 153.

Ain Soph, 269.

Albertus Magnus, 205, 434.
Alchemy, 385.

Aleph, Dark, 1 5 ; Bright, 1 5 ;
Created, 27 ; Great and Little,
27.

Alipili, 319.

“Alkind, 148.

Almadir, 281.

Amelius, 56.

Anaxagoras, 291.

Apollonius, 348 et seq .

Apuleius, 24.

Aquaster, 299.

Aquinas, St Thomas, 7.

Arabian Elixir, 304.

Archetypal Moon, 139.

Archetype, 112.

Arias Montanus, 33, 35.

Aristobulus, 185.

Aristotle, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20, 25, 36, 41,

* 49, 5o, 59, 73, 74, 75, 79, 83, &5,
125, 126, 130, 131, 133, 134, 163,
164, 186, 188, 197, 229, 263, 264,
276, 279, 290, 345, 346, 348, 366,
401,413, 414, 415, 429-

Arnoldus de Villa Nova, 188, 204,
211, 326, 327, 377.

Art — subject of, 61 ; of Fire, 62 ;
its Secret, 77 ; Principle of, 87 ;
understanding of, 93 ; Mercury
of, 94 ; Place of Attainment, 108 ;
Hidden Earth of, 129; Key of,
1 35, 320; Revealed to Adam,
152 ; Masters of, 158 ; its Trans¬
mission, 160; Misfortunes of,
162; Votaries of, 232; 'Great
Secret of, 285, 368 ; Subtleties of,
377 ; its Artificial Principles, 402 ;
Art of Solution, 417; Warning,
439- .

Artephius, 109.

Asenath, 184.

Astrolasms, 256.

Augustine, St, 86.

Aurelius, Marcus, 200.

Avicebron, 48.

Avicenna, 48.

Azoth, 196, 402, 417.

Bacon, Francis, 315.

Bacon, Roger, 6, 7, 414.

Barachias Abenesi, 182.

Basil Valentine, 266, 433.

Bembine Table, 184.

Benjamin, 160.

Bernard Trevisan, 326.

Bezaleel, 153.

Binah, 295.

Binarius, 28, 80, 87, 93, 359.

Bovillus, 1 1 8.

Bride of God, 86.

Bride of the Sun, 94, 31 1.

Cain and Abel, 147, 155, 156.

Campanella, 8.

Candle of God, 299.

Caput Mortuum, 94, 227.

494

Index

Chaos — *>., Primeval Limbus, 1 8 ;
Philosophical, 204, 227 ; as Virgin
Water, 214; Practice on, 217;
Ether of, 300 ; Creation of, 366 ;
Secondary Sperm, 400.

Chariot of the Soul, 427.

Chemia, 95.

Chokmah, 295.

Christ, union with, 34 ; Gift of, 36 ;
the Reconciler, 45 ; Death of, 57 ;
Descent into Hell, 58 ; Healing
power of, 81 ; the True Founda¬
tion, 86 ; Blood of, 133, 149 ; the
Great Restorative, 150 ; His
miracles, 1 54 ; the Second Person,
296 ; Incarnation of, 302 ; Re¬
conciliation in, 392. Also 56, 83,
1 13> 132, i35> M6, 156, 174) 1 77,
241.

Christendom, no communion in, 6.
Church, 135, 214.

Cigognes, 66.

Clearchus, 185.

Cyrus, 391.

Damascene Earth, 164.

Damascus and Damcar, 341.

Damis, 361 et seq.

Daniel, 158.

Death, 52.

Delrio, 66.

Democritus, 186, 417.

Denarius, 80.

Descartes, 118.

D’Espagnet, Jean, 1 17.

Diana, 355.

Dionysius the Areopagite, 13, 37,

38, 53, 54, 394-
Dioscorus, 186
Dissolvent of Metals, 386.

Duad, 306.

Duenech, 417.

Eagle, Flying, 208, 209, 323.

Eden, 38, 39, 45, 49.

Egg of Nature, 210. See also 179,
180.

Eliezer, 157.

Elijah, 106.

Elixir, 304.

Elohim, 126.

Emepht, 180, 181.

Enoch, 106.

Esdras, 12, 13, 21, 26, 56, 106, 142,
166.

Eugenius, Pope, 167.

Euphorbus, 183.

Euxenus, 362.

Ezekiel, 1 1 3.

Fabre, Pierre Jean, 378.

Fall of Man, 10, 178, 369, 393.

Ficinus, 358.

Fire, 16, 301, 300, 421.

Flamel, Nicholas, 172 et seq., 285.

Fludd, Robert, 55.

Form, 74.

Galen and Galenists, 19, 49, 50, 61,
74, 153, 229, 414, 429.

Geber, 286, 325.

Georgius Venetus, 16, 137.

God — man planted in, 10 ; Man
not the immediate work of, 11 ;
Meditation of, 13 ; Essential
Mystery of, 15; God and First
Matter, 25 ; the Preserver, 29,
1 14, 153, 428 ; Throne of, 31, 40,
81 ; Man united to, 38, 43 ; God
and Nature, 49, 84, 93, 392, 395 ;
not absent from His creatures,
*82; Visible and invisible, 129;

* a Supernatural Sun, 130;. Un¬
folding of, 134 Is the light, 14 1 ;
as Creator, 193, 259 ; Contains
all in Himself, 218 ; Art of, 268,
417 ; Emanations from, 292 ;
Seal of, 320 ; Heaven of, 403 ;
God the Father, 14, 26, 27, 28.
See also s.v. Christ, Holy Ghost,
and Holy Trinity.

Hali the Arabian, 258.

Halicali, 242, 267.

Hannibal, 312.

Helicon, 354.

Henshaw, Thomas, 12 1.

Hezekiah, 153.

Hidden Intelligence, 299.

Hispan, Peter, 36.

Holy Ghost and Spirit of God, 6,
13, 15, 18, 21, 22, 23, 28, 36, 53,
108, no, 130, 133, 169, 278,295,
296, 321, 365,430.

49 5

The IVorks of Thomas Vaughan

Holy Oblation, 287.

Horeb, Mount, 171, 241, 263.
Horizon of Time and Eternity, 80.
Humid Key, 375.

Hyle, 401.

Hyliard, 82.

Hyphasis, River, 350, 351, 353.

Iamblichus, 11, 108, 372, 373.

Ilan, 139.

Imagination, Divine, 19.
Invisibility, no.

Isis, 54.

Jabal and Jubal, 151.

Jacob, 157, 158, 159, 160, 169, 170.
Jacob’s Ladder, 28, 169.

Jarchas, 355 et seq.

Jean de Meung, 222, 251.

John Baptist, St, 73.

John, St, 15, 49, 146, 388, 419.
Joseph, 157, 159, 160, 408.

Jove, 29.

Jovius, Paulus, 66.

Julian the Apostate, 133.

Julian the Chaldean, 294.

Juno, 29.

Kabalism and Kabalists, 6, 138,
140, 141, 143, 145, 147, 166, 167,
168, 169, 171, 192, 224, 282, 295,
305, 370, 408.

Kalid, Calid or Kanid, 206.
Kiriath-Sepharim, 161.

Laban, 157.

Lapis Chemicus, 303.

Lation, 78.

Libanius Gallus, 90.

Light, multiplication of, 95 ; Birth
and Discovery of, 317; Divine
Light, 16.

Lion, Green, 209, 323.

Lion, Red, 209.

Lucas Rhodagirus, 380.

Lucian, 50, 73, 76.

Lucifer, 35.

Lucretius, 367.

Luke, St, 33.

Lully, Raymund, 188, 199,205,212,

213, 253, 273, 274, 283, 284, 294,

327, 328, 3 59, 367, 369, 377, 378,
379, 400, 402, 408.

Luna, 324.

Lunaria, 258, 288.

Luther, 70.

Lycophron, 7.

Magi, 48, no, 129, 160, 226, 255,
256.

Magic, perfection in, 28 ; Labyrinth
and Wild of, 87 ; Fundamentals
of, 88 ; Definition of, 132 ; Effi¬
cacious Word in, 136, 170; Higher
Magic, 155; Steps of, 156 ; Inter¬
pretation of Dreams, 158 ; Effects
of, 160 ; in Egypt, 179, 183 ; An¬
tiquity of, 19 1 ; Art of, 199, 225 ;
Magic of Nature, 201 ; Physics
and Magic, 217 ; Three parts of,
253 ; School of, 265 ; Divine
Magic, 268 ; End of, 283 ; Secret
Performances of, 304 ; Censure
of, 344.

Magirus, 74.

Magnesia, 407, 420 ; Red Magnesia,
194 ; Catholic Magnesia, 195.
Malkuth, 139.

Marcus, Dr, 17.

Mark Antony, 201.

Marriage, 34, 94, 95.

Matrix, 79.

Matter, First, n, 19, 20, 82, 83, 93,
127, 159, 163, 181, 193, 200, 202,
204, 208, 209, 215, 221, 230, 232,

2 33, 247, 269 et seq., 290, 317,

321, 365, 366, 369, 375, 437.
Medicine, Philosophical, 30, 32, 106,

109, 114, 209, 220, 364.

Memphis, Temple of, 182.
Menstruum, 79.

Mercury, 76, 8 7, 93, 94, 128, 196,
201, 205, 21 1, 215, 223, 227, 263,
270, 271, 277, 284, 317, 318, 320,

322, 324, 353, 376, 402, 410, 411,
412, 416, 420, 437, 438.

Mind, Divine, 202.

Miriam, 336, 337.

Monad, 15, 29, 87, 88, 306,

Moon, 73 ; Celestial Moon, 29, 76 ;
Moon of the Wise, 293 ; Mountains
of the Moon, 249, 257. See Luna.
More, Henry, 130, 131,240,314,334.

Index

Moses, 9, 13, 25, 26, 42, 93, 151,
156, 159, 160, 1 61, 162, 163, 164,
165, 185, 276, 390, 408, 425, 429.

Mothers, Three, 168, 169.

Mysterium Magnum, 254.

. Mystical Death, 5.

Natalius, 377.

Nature, her Etna, 23 ; her Wanton,
24 ; Examination of, 26 ; Light
of, 27, 13c ; Mysteries of, 31, 152,
159, 162, 337/367, 41 1 ; Active
and Passive Portions, 73 ; Ac¬
cording to Aristotle, 74 ; Provid¬
ence of, 76 ;• Chain of, 77, 269 ;
God and Nature, 93, 395 ; Womb
of, 94 ; Star- Fire of, 1 14 ; System
of, 128 ; Laws of, 175 ; Alphabet
of, 198 ; A Free Spirit, 201 ;
Generations of, 217 ; Universal
Nature, 223, 254 ; Wheel of, 231 ;
Order of, 248 ; Way of, 320 ;
Nature and Sperm, 321 ; Re¬
demption of, 391, 392 ; Corrup¬
tion of, 393. See also 22, 35, 48,
49, 72, 75, 78, 79, 80, 81, 86, 87,
89, hi, 126, 129, 148, 149, 1 5 1,
163, 164, 195, 197, 198, 220, 221,
222, 226, 232, 255, 265, 276, 315,
316, 319, 347, 352, 375, 376, 398,
402, 406, 407, 414, 422.

New Jerusalem, 31.

Noah, 58.

Norton, Thomas, 378.

Numenius the Pythagorean, 185.

•

Obecinus, Thomas, 171.

Origen, 36.

Orpheus, 200, 223.

Ostanes, 80, 182.

Palingenius, 57, 224.

Pan, 223.

Paracelsus, 194, 220, 273, 300.

Paradise, 85, 143, 209, 429.

Parnassus, 354. *

Paul, St, 6, 34, 44, 45, 65, 75, 106,
109, 142, 300, 387, 419.

Pentaura, 23.

Peripatetics, 6, 8, 19, 20, 22, 24, 72,
74, 75, 77, 83, 1 18, 126, 133, 159,
263, 276.

Peter, St, 37, 38, 57, 65, 135, 361.
Petrus a Valle, 171.

Philostratus, 348 et seq.

Phoenix, 282.

Phraotes, 348 et seq .

. Planets, Prototypical, 46.

Plato, .185 ; Platonic Philosophy,

396.

Plotinus, 58.

Plutarch, 54.

Pontanus, 428.

Porphyry, 1 31, 149, 372, 373.
Possevinus, C. B., 68.

Potipherah, 184.

Pre-existence, 5, 10. •

Principles, 87.

Proclus, 61, 431.

Promondus, 51.

Proteus, 371.

Prototype, 26.

Ptha, 180.

Ptolemy, 20.

Ptolemy Philometer, 185.
Pythagoras, 50, 53, 105, 183, 291,
301, 304, 362, 420.

Quaternary, 87.

Quintessence, 24, 230.

Quintilian, 3, 191.

Rachaidibi the Persian, 206.
Rambam, 167.

Ramus, 36.

Raziel, 146.

Regeneration, 108. .

Religion, 161.

Resurrection, 108.

Reuchlin, J., 137, 194, 291.

Rhodian, 206.

Rice of Chester, 397, 400, 407.
Rosicrucians and their Philosophy,
98, 107, 208 et seq., 259 et seq.,
354, 364, 365, 412.

Salt, 1 13, 154, 267, 368, 369, 377,
379, 380, 416, 432. «

Sanhedrim, 162, 168.

Saturn, 62, 21 1, 263, 320, 324, 336,

355*

Scaliger, 57.

Scotus, 7, 8.

Senarius, 304.

497

32

The Works of Thomas Vaughan

Sendivogius, Michael, 24, 28, 117,
251,273, 403, 405, 407, 423.

Septenary, 302.

Servius, 367.

Severinus, 31.

Sinai, Mt., 109.

Sinic Monument, 176-178.

Sion, Mt., 109.

Sol Mortuorum, 244 ; Sol Centralis,
403, 404.

Solomon, 85798, 121, 122, 150, 155,
313-

Soul, an Essence Royal, 5, 6 ; her
Descent, 5 ; Primeval State, 10 ;
Parts of, 33, 34, 40-43 ; Moods
of, 47,48; Home of, 298 ; Magnet
of, 48.

Soul of the World, 78, 79, 370.

Sperm, 196, 221, 226, 275,321, 370,
435-

Stella Martis, 433.

Stone of the Philosophers, 54, 94,
96, 1 13, 122, 159, 163, 172, 207,
230, 263, 286, 303, 313, 342, 358,
360, 375? 434-

Sulphur, 76, 93, 95, 195, 277, 284,
358, 37 6, 380, 402, 410, 412, 416,
418, 419, 421, 435, 436, 438.

Sun, Supercelestial, 14 ; Celestial,
29.

Synesius, 182, 186.

Telesius, 8.

Ternarius, 87, 109, 302.

Thalia, 247, 250, 257.

Theophrastus, 187.

Thomas Aquinas, St, 434.

Throne of God, 31.

Tincture, Red and White, 205, 438.

Tobit, 154.

Tradition of the Lamp, 315.

Tree of Knowledge, 36, 37, 39, 43,
144-

Tree of Life, 36, 37, 43, 144.

Trinity, Holy, 13, 14, 15, 26, 27, 146,
147, 1 79,. 306, 345, 430-

Trismegistic Writings, 16, 19, 20,
44, 69, 127, 129, 179, 183, 200,
207, 330.

Trithemius, 90-93, 137.

Tubal Cain, 147, 1 5 1 , 153, 378.

Turba Philosophorum, 206, 207, 218,
220, 225, 226, 227, 272, 278, 333,
420, 433-

Union, Mystery of, 28 ; Unity, 86,

88.

Uriel, 106.

Vardanes, 362.

Venus, 73, 317, 367, 371, 418, 438.

Vergil, 54, 55, 332, 367, 374, 414.

Vessel of Hermes, 336, 337.

Virgin’s Milk, 195.

Water, Art of, 375 ; Philosophical
Water, 273, 274, 278 ; Permanent
Water, 205, 207 ; Secret Water,
210; Water of Silver, 21 1 ; Water
of the Moon, 21 1 ; Virgin Water,
214; White Water, 228; Water
of the Sun, 381.

Wierus, 67, 68.

Wisdom, 96-97.

Witchcraft, 35.

Word and Word of God, 19, 20, 136,
209, 3 87, 389, 397-

Zachary, 113.

Zadith, 431.

Zoroaster, 16, 17, 106, 122, 130,217,
218, 224, 294, 305, 366.

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH.

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